Different Parts, Same DNA

Surgeons are now able to regenerate body parts from a patient's own cells, shaped especially for their role within the body.

Organ transplants have been saving lives for years. By checking a box on our driver's license renewal form, or adding a line to our wills, our kidneys, livers, lungs, hearts and more can be transplanted to increase the quantity and quality of the lives of recipients.

In July 2015, transplant surgery took another giant step forward when Zion Harvey, an 8-year-old boy in Baltimore, became the first person to receive a transplant of both hands! This was an amazing feat celebrated by Zion, his family, the medical community and many others.

While articles lauded the accomplishment, Dr. L. Scott Levin reminded us of the cost. He told us how the operation was only possible because there was a donor, another young boy who had died. He talked about that family's generosity. "I think the difference is finding a family who has the courage to relinquish the arms of a child who just died and give hope and life and quality of life to a child who's still living," he said.

The reports of Zion's...