The Organ Tree
195
sutures fail, the person ends up with a colostomy. Since the free end of the
colon would be held near its proper position by the local anatomy, Al sug-
gests replacing it without stitches and giving such animals a temporary co-
lostomy upstream from the gap. If X rays later showed regrowth, the
temporary colostomy would be closed, and the animal would have a continu-
ous, healthy intestine. If even a few patients could be spared the indignity of
living attached to a bag, the effort would be well worth the little—yet still
nonexistent—funding required. Intensive study of the electrical details of gut
healing would probably make surgery less devastating for many additional
patients.
Exciting as the prospects in this survey are, they're by no means the
only ones, or even the most spectacular, which are reserved for the fol-
lowing chapters. Many researchers
are working to turn the break-
throughs of the last two decades to practical use. Even so, progress isn't
nearly as fast as it could be, perhaps due to disbelief that such wide-
spread self-repair is really possible for us. It's not only possible, it's
nearly certain, given even a modest monetary push, for the "useful dis-
positions" foreseen by Spallanzani are within our reach.