Here’s Scientific America’s The Biggest Health and Medicine Stories of 2023 by TANYA LEWIS. It’s always thrilling to look into the advances in medical field. These narratives are much more than mere stories—they represent the collective efforts of families, patients, and medical professionals who have integrated centuries of human knowledge to make life possible. In awe I read, as the opening of the article goes
In world with so much urgent and depressing news, it can be hard to take a moment and reflect on all of the encouraging scientific and medical progress that has happened. But looking back at 2023, there was plenty on the health beat to be awed by.
- A new generation of drugs that result in significant weight loss.
- COVID is finally over.
- Xenotransplant is on the way.
- FDA approved the first CRISPR-based treatment for sickle cell disease.
- Another transplant story: doctors in New York City completed the first partial face and whole-eye transplant
Particularly, a deep dive into the XENOTRANSPLANTS:
More than 100,000 people in the U.S. are currently on waiting lists for an organ transplant, the vast majority of them [for kidneys](https://www.kidneyfund.org/kidney-donation-and-transplant/transplant-waiting-list#:~:text=The list is managed by,%) waiting for a kidney.). Every day 17 people die waiting for a transplant. The procurement system uses only a small fraction of the available organs at any particular time because of logistical and medical hurdles and a controversial distribution system. Transplants remain out of reach for too many people, especially those of color and with low incomes; many never even get put on a waiting list.
Recent medical advances in treating infections such as hepatitis C and HIV have made previously unusable organs usable. In addition, technology has made it possible to keep organs viable for longer outside a body before a transplant and even to improve their quality. Yet the demand for organs still far outstrips the supply.
And an intriguing perspective shared by Montgomery, an abdominal transplant surgeon, on the status quo of the current organ transplant system:
Montgomery compares the current, inadequate organ transplant system to an economy running on fossil fuels. “You can have it burn cleaner, you can make all these various changes,” he says, “but it’s still never going to be what you really need, which is something that’s renewable, that is sustainable.” Xenotransplants, for Montgomery, are renewable energy.
From an existentialist standpoint, this comparison is apt. However, until xenotransplantation becomes universally safe and implementable, we remain in the process of building a more effective system. The love, loss, and anguish behind each medical story resonate deeply, and each successful transplant signifies a world of difference for many.