DailyDirt: Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me A Match...

Sometimes extending a person's life requires an organ transplant, but it's not exactly easy to find a replacement organ -- especially when donors don't have spares. Medicine is getting better at growing some replacements, so maybe someday patients won't need to rely on other people dying to get a heart, liver, pancreas, etc.

• The 2012 Nobel prize for economics went to Alvin Roth and Lloyd Shapley for their work on matchmaking solutions that have practical applications in finding kidney donors and pairing medical students with training programs. The organ donor marketplace has benefited greatly from marketplaces that don't depend on prices -- but still create fair exchanges. [url]
• Why do some organs like kidneys and lungs come in pairs, but others like hearts and livers don't? If you're expecting a real answer to this question (other than dual organs are advantageous for survival in some cases and not in others), keep waiting, but it's interesting to know that hearts in some animals, like amphibians, could be doubled, but they merge to form a single heart. [url]
• Researchers are growing mini-organs, aka organoids, from stem cells -- small brains, eyes, livers and more. These organoid banks for semi-developed body parts could provide extremely good testing environments for pharmaceuticals and medical treatments, replacing lab rats or healthy volunteers. [url]

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