Replacement Parts

If the scientific community is allowed to work through the technical problems of viability and the moral issues surrounding the creation of living tissues, it eventually (usually late in PL 6) becomes possible for them to use cloning technology to grow specific organs without first creating a viable embryo. They are able to stimulate cells in the lab so that they spontaneously develop into a liver, lung, or kidney. This eliminates the need for organ donation and make possible huge advances in the science of organ transplantation.

In the modern world, people whose major organs are dysfunctional must wait in hopes that an appropriate donor (one with the right blood type and other specific traits) can be found. With advances in science, cloned replacement organs are available whenever they are needed and match the recipient exactly, down to the last chromosome. (This has the added bonus of practically eliminating the chance of the body rejecting the new organ.) Cloning can also replace much of the need for blood banks, since doctors can clone as much replacement blood as necessary. Some stores of donated blood remains necessary, though, for use in times of emergency.

At PL 6, cloning a replacement organ requires a state-of-the-art research laboratory and a successful Wealth check (purchase DC 31). The process takes 2d10+10 days. Cloning blood is a much easier process, requiring only a standard hospital or university laboratory, 1d3 hours, and a Wealth check (purchase DC 10) to create 1d6 pints.

At PL 7, improvements make these processes quicker and cheaper to perform. All experiments can be performed in any hospital or university laboratory, and some may even be successfully accomplished in well-stocked home labs. Cloning a replacement organ takes 1 d6+4 days and requires a Wealth check ( purchase DC 18). Cloning blood takes 1 hour and a Wealth check (purchase DC 7) to produce 1d6 pints.

At PL 8, cloning a replacement organ takes 1d4+4 hours and a Wealth check (purchase DC 10). Cloning blood can be done in the operating room and does not have a significant cost associated with the process.