In order to produce diversity in virtual creatures to populate virtual worlds, different techniques exist. Some of these use blocks or sticks. In this morphological approach, blocks and sticks can be considered as organs, which means body parts able to perform different functions. Another approach, artificial embryogenesis, consists in developing organisms from a single cell. In this paper, we ...

The lead article in this January-February 2021 issue—the first of the Hastings Center Report's fiftieth year publication—does not set out to change medicine. It tries instead understand it. In “A Heart without Life: Artificial Organs and Lived Body,” Mary Jean Walker draws on work phenomenology empirical research with people who have received artificial heart devices argue that such may two ver...

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) membranes have long been used in many applications, most notably in a number of recent biomedical applications. These applications include the encapsulation of hybrid-type artificial organs, the controlled release of specific molecules, targeted drug delivery systems, enhanced wound dressings, and myriad other applications that utilize the semi-permeability and high bioc...

Tissue engineering is an exciting new area of medicine with rapid growth and expansion over the last decade. It has the potential to have a profound impact on the practice of medicine and influence the economic development in the industry of biotechnology. In almost every specialty of medicine, the ability to generate replacement cells and develop tissues will change the focus from artificial o...

In recent years, a variety of devices (drug-eluting stents, artificial organs, biosensors, catheters, scaffolds for tissue engineering, heart valves, etc.) have been developed for implantation into patients. However, when such devices are implanted into the body, the body can react to these in a number of different ways. These reactions can result in an unexpected risk for patients. Therefore, ...