Abstract
The authors are indisputably competent to write the book, and it is a good survey of the issues-technical, ethical, economic and social-that arise. They admit, e.g., that the dangers of viral contamination have not been satisfactorily resolved yet; nor has a "humanized" pig, the targeted animal, been created yet. Thus, they are not ready to go to clinical trials. A theme that runs throughout the book is that "demand [for organs] far outstrips supply," and that people "would rather be alive than dead," to quote Sir Peter Medawar. These people are on a crusade to keep patients with failing hearts, lungs, and livers alive, which I suppose is what one would want of a medical doctor. They are interested in having an unlimited supply of these organs, hence the goal of a "humanized" pig that can be slaughtered for its organs without attracting much objection. To arouse sympathy for their goal, they often refer to individual cases of patients they have cared for, most dead, who could have benefited from a transplant. It is never suggested that we owe God a death.