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In a striking advance that helps open the door to organ transplants from animals, researchers have created gene-edited piglets cleansed of viruses that might cause disease in humans.

This interdisciplinary case study uses the format of a progressive disclosure to explore certain advances in biotechnology and evaluate them within the framework of societal needs, concerns and pressures.  When faced with a heart valve transplant, a high school student and her mother must decide between multiple approaches, some current and others emergent. Highlighted in this case study are the topics of xenotransplantation, 3D bioprinting and the mature minor rule. The case includes a role-playing, public hearing activity that can be used to explore many aspects at the interface of technology and culture: religious rights, parental rights, public health care policy and safety, animal rights, economic issues of organ marketing, and psychological issues of body image.  This case study was originally designed for first year collegiate classes (introduction to biology, introduction to psychology) but is also applicable to AP high school. The flexible nature of the case also allows for expansion of several aspects for advanced classes across multiple disciplines.

OpenBiome (full name Microbiome Health Research Institute Inc.) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding safe access to fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) therapies. Founded by a small team of microbiologists, public health advocates, and concerned citizens, OpenBiome aims to significantly reduce the practical barriers for clinicians providing FMTs, while connecting scientists across studies and disciplines. 

First, surgeons remove the uterus and part of the vagina from the donor - in this case, one who was deceased, since it is a risky surgery that involves separating uterine blood vessels that are tightly wrapped around the tubes from the bladder. Next, the uterus is transferred to the living recipient. Surgeons connect an artery and a vein on either side of the uterus to connect it to the recipient's blood supply. A piece of the donor's vaginal tissue is attached to the recipient's vagina, and supporting tissue is attached to the pelvis to secure the organ in place. It's not necessary to connect any nerves.

For the first time, biologists have succeeded in growing human stem cells in pig embryos, shifting from science fiction to the realm of the possible the idea of developing human organs in animals for later transplant.

For Collinge, this led to a worrying conclusion: that the plaques might have been transmitted, alongside the prions, in the injections of growth hormone-the first evidence that Alzheimer's could be transmitted from one person to another. If true, that could have far-reaching implications: the possibility that 'seeds' of the amyloid-β protein involved in Alzheimer's could be transferred during other procedures in which fluid or tissues from one person are introduced into another, such as blood transfusions, organ transplants and other common medical procedures.

Scientists in Australia have grown the world's first kidney from stem cells - a tiny organ which could eventually help to reduce the wait for transplants. The breakthrough, published in the journal Nature Cell Biology, followed years of research and involved the transformation of human skin cells into an organoid - a functioning "mini-kidney" with a width of only a few millimetres.

Article on transgenic livestock