The future of organ trafficking could be coming to an unexpected end within the next couple of decades or so as new medical advances arise. The shortage of organs people face today is an outrage that many will go to great lengths to try to resolve, however what if this scarcity could just be short-term? With the conflicting opinions of many researchers, professors and just your average everyday person, 3D bioprinting could be the solution for all of their problems.
“Bioprinting is the three-dimensional printing of biological tissue and organs through the layering of living cells,” (Rouse and Sales). This idea of being able to replicate one’s kidney or heart is a dream that is soon to become true. 3D bioprinting is indeed a very complex process…show more content… Organ trafficking and harvesting is an illegal market that has been around for decades. Unfortunately, over these decades, the demand for organs has significantly increased as the supply has decreased. The issue with this is not the possibility of a positive outcome it can bring to the one in need but the process in which these organs go through to get to the recipient. Many organs are being illegally trafficked for a commercial profit with no regulations set in place and that is something many have a hard time coming to terms with. Researches including Professor Arthur Caplan who is the Emanuel and Robert Hart Professor of Bioethics, is opposed to the entire idea of organ trafficking. Caplan believes that trafficking is “unethical” as it seems to “exploit the living by treating them as nothing more than mobile parts farms,” (Caplan 308). It is no secret that in most scenarios of organ trafficking, the procedure and processes are not quite ideal as Caplan points out. Professors like Caplan would however, if introduced to 3D printing, are assumed to probably lean towards the idea as it does not involve in exploiting individuals and devaluing
