Technology to Help Enrich Seniors’ Lives (4)
Technology can also make us feel more anxious and undermine our mental well-being. It’s a double-edged sword.
I belong to the second school of thought. I think you could say that people who’ve telecommuted during the pandemic are more lonely than those who’ve continued to work onsite.
One interesting technological concept that’s been introduced by science fiction writers is being able to recreate your body parts. Some scientists are now saying that additive manufacturing, otherwise known as 3D printing, could one day be used to print human body parts to help overcome a shortage of donor organs.
That’s very encouraging. Did you know that more than 100,000 people are currently on waitlists for hearts, kidneys dan other vital organs?
Yes, that’s a staggering statistic. Some custom-made living body parts have already been 3d-printed. They functioned normally when implanted into animals. We’re getting closer to making fully functional, transplantable human organs.
Jane mentioned organ waitlists, but did you hear that doctors had successfully transplanted a pair of pig kidneys into the body of a person? This may pave the way for clinical trials of animal-to-human transplants for patients in desperate need of kidneys and other organs.
Also for the first time, surgeons in Maryland transplanted a genetically modified pg heart into a human. Unfortunately, he died a couple of months later.
To teach is to learn twice.
