Last night 60 Minutes aired a segment on how researchers are growing human body parts -- ears, kidneys, lungs -- to be used as replacements for veterans and people who have diseases that require amputation. It was a great example of how certain thousands-of-years-old themes are still with us.
At one point, Morley Safer asks, "Are you suggesting a remarkable future of when organs fail we simply replace them and live to 120, 150?" [Translation: are we talking the holy grail of immortality?] To which the researcher responds, "The hope for the future is that if you do have a patient who has organ failure, you don't want the patient to die because you're waiting for an organ. People are dying every day on the transplant wait lists." [Translation: Of course, but you won't catch me talking about that. Let's focus on how we're saving lives right now.] Later, Safer says "It's enough to make doctor Frankenstein jealous," and compares the science to "pastry making," "pixie dust" and "magical," all of which reveal our intense desire and fear of scientific advancement.
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