Lungs in a box

Note: Some of the images shown in this programme may disturb sensitive viewers.

Breathing usually happens so naturally that most people never even think about it – until something goes wrong.

On this edition of TechKnow, contributor Dr Shini Somara follows a transplant team to understand how they rush into action whenever a donor organ becomes available.

We then explore a new technology which could be a game-changer in the organ retrieval process – a device that keeps lungs warm and breathing outside the human body, and which may eliminate time and distance factors from the organ transplant process.

Contributor Marita Davison, a biologist specialising in ecology and evolution, then joins researchers at Cal State University’s shark lab who are developing a submersible robot that follows sharks and measures a range of enviromental conditions.

Davison takes a dip in the underwater lab and meets the waterproof robot that follows the elusive sea-creatures around, in an attempt to offer us a window into their natural behaviour.