The other organ

Your Challenge: Future gazing: Engineered organs to make athletes fitter – Yes or no? Present your argument.

What’s the story?

The time is 2060. Clinical engineers are now able to produce organs in the lab which have a higher performance than natural human organs. People are able to supply a small tissue sample and have their chosen organ grown to order.

As a result there are an increasing number of cases where people are having natural organs removed and higher performance, cultured organs implanted.

There have been a number of cases where athletes have had extra muscle tissue implanted to give them greater strength. Some have even had hearts and lungs replaced with larger versions to increase the oxygen supply to their bodies. Scarless surgery and the fact that this implanted organ tissue is indistinguishable from natural tissue means that it is impossible to spot.

There is a growing movement saying that sport should be ‘kept natural’, but there are people who oppose this saying that implanting cultured organs must be allowed because it is no different to training to improve strength, heart lung capacity etc. People in other professions are also having cultured organs implanted. The major market so far has been for upgraded eyes and muscle tissue for military personnel. Pilots and astronauts are also a major market for upgraded eyes.

The International Federation for Athletes has asked for your opinion. They would like to hear your argument for or against engineered organs for athletes.

Growing organs?

The ability to grow organs for transplant from tissue samples in the lab would be a massive advance for medical science. There would be no more waiting lists for transplants and there would be no complicated cocktails of drugs to keep the body from rejecting the organs.

Surely there are no problems with this?

The answer is probably not. But what if it were possible to grow organs in the lab that had a higher performance than natural human organs? Would you be interested in eyes that had the same power as that of a hawk? How about muscles that could let you run 100 m in 8 seconds or less? What about kidneys that could remove LDL cholesterol from your blood?

If you could afford the operation, would you be tempted? What if having that operation gave you a big advantage in your job?

Like never before, technological developments are outpacing our ability to understand the moral and ethical issues they might present.

What you need to do

Once you have come up with your argument for or against engineered organs, produce a video (max. five minutes) presenting it. There is no right or wrong way to do this. You can use any props you want or just do a talking head. You should include:

  • What your opinion is.
  • What your reasons are.
  • What this problem could mean for the future of sport.
  • A solution. Remember that your recommendations will only affect the world of sport, but you can use arguments from outside the world of sport to prove your point.

Want to make sure you get your point across? Have a look at our Presentation tips.

Here are some questions to get you started…

  • This kind of organ implantation is likely to be expensive, meaning that only wealthy people will be able to afford it. How might this affect the sporting prospects of a talented youngster from a less wealthy back ground?
  • If a sportsperson has a medical need for an organ to be implanted, how could you decide on whether the performance of the implanted organ was greater than the original? The performance of such organs is likely to vary a bit naturally, how could you decide if the performance of an organ was too high?
  • If people in other professions are making use of upgraded organ implants would it be fair to exclude sportspeople?
  • What might be the consequences if it were possible to design and create new types of organs? For example, imagine a set of biological ‘wheels’ for example to replace legs? Would it be fair to allow an athlete on ‘wheels’ to compete with athletes on legs?
  • Will organ implants exclude groups of people with particular religious beliefs from the top levels of sport?

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How will your entry be judged?

To really impress the judges your entry has to meet three equally weighted criteria:

  • Engage! You have to communicate with your audience in an exciting and engaging fashion.
  • Understand! You must show that you understand the science behind the challenge and your solution.
  • Solve! You need to offer a solution to the problem you have been presented. The more innovative and interesting your approach the better!

Submitting your challenge video

Upload your challenge video now, using the IET Faraday Video Wizard.

Closing date for submitting your entries is the 14th December. Don’t forget to read the terms and conditions before you enter.

If the judges choose your video as one of the 4 regional winners, your winning team will be invited to take part in the filming of 4 ‘Faraday returns’ videos with leading scientists and engineers. Filming will take place in January, please therefore ensure that your team is available during this period.