In a counterintuitive medical choice, some individuals with healthy but underperforming limbs (e.g., a twisted foot) fight to have them amputated. They recognize that a well-designed modern prosthetic can provide more mobility and a better quality of life than their natural, but chronically dysfunctional, anatomy.
Author Mary Roach's humor is a deliberate strategy to keep readers engaged with intimidating or seemingly 'boring' scientific topics. By anticipating a reader's potential insecurity or disinterest, she uses humor as a pedagogical tool to make complex subjects accessible and prevent them from feeling like a 'slog.'
The use of pigs for human transplants stems from a historical partnership between the Mayo Clinic and Hormel Foods to breed smaller 'minipigs' for lab research. This agricultural project, combined with pigs' anatomical similarities and lower disease-transmission risk compared to primates, established them as the primary source for replacement organs.
Rather than hiding unsettling medical realities like tissue procurement, being transparent can demystify the process and build public trust. Acting secretive makes people assume there is something to hide, whereas openly explaining even 'gruesome' details can reassure the public and ultimately help an organization's mission, such as encouraging organ donation.
Patients and doctors often prefer integrated, 'natural' solutions like organ transplants over more practical but external machines. This powerful bias for appearing 'normal' and whole can lead them to pursue complex, risky internal solutions, even when external devices might offer a more stable, albeit less convenient, alternative.
Unlike external machines, implanting parts internally triggers the body's powerful defenses. The immune system attacks foreign objects, and blood forms clots around non-native surfaces. These two biological responses are the biggest design hurdles for internal replacement parts, problems that external devices like dialysis machines don't face.