Last year, University of Maryland surgeons made history by transplanting a gene-edited pig heart into a dying man who was out of other options. He survived only two months before the organ failed for reasons that aren’t fully understood but that offer lessons for future attempts. Now, the Food and Drug Administration is considering whether to allow some small but rigorous studies of pig heart or kidney transplants in volunteer patients.
Yeah they are still trying it but due to ethical reasons it’s hard to find a perfect match for the studies. It can also be kinda inhumane to tell someone “Hey, your dying but we can make you a lab rat and give you an unknown amount of time left to live with a pig heart.” The family and the person would be well aware they are most likely going to die and won’t really know when.
The research will go on and the article does talk about how the FDA is looking into opening it up further as it has shown promising. With that said, I fully support volunteers for this.
Yeah I can understand that, but honestly if a psychiatrist can sign off on them being cognizant of themselves and not in an altered or unstable state, I don’t see any reason why a patient shouldn’t have experimental options like this.
I think the notion of someone who’s dying being persuaded, by death, to be a lab rat is terrible and/or manipulative is kind of silly. Wanting to live longer is a pretty normal and rational desire by itself . Although an over concern with death can be unhealthy especially mentally, if you are actively dying that concern is pretty normal.
Wanting to live longer might not even be because of fear of death for a person, they could just want to spend more time with their family or something of that sort.
I feel as though, if you’re deeply morally opposed to being a scientific lab rat, you’ll choose to just go out naturally whether you are scared or not. There are people who turn away chemotherapy when they have cancer, Steve Jobs for example.
I personally would take any experimental medicine I could if I could, read their thesis paper, talk to the researchers about the plan and then decide whether I’m interested.
There is the element of “my death will give the data to prevent the deaths of others” that you’re missing. You’re forgetting altruism.