Surgeons work around the clock at the Zaporizhzhia military hospital to treat war-torn soldiers. Copyright POOL/AFP Anthony Kwan
New innovations in technology seem to be closer to a 3D printer that can replicate human organs. However, realising this remains a few years away (not least because of the challenges abound achieving biomimicry, vascularization and 3D anatomically-relevant biological structures). This has stopped the concept being used in a compelling way in a new novel.
This is one the compelling, real world premises that underpin Stephen Steele’s latest book, “The Steele Book”. THe Organ Grinder Factor. The Organ Grinder Factor is an action-packed story about two characters on a high-stakes quest to save humanity from cancers and viruses. What they discover is a doctor working with a 3D printing machine in Israel.
The horrors of child slavery in Africa, as well as the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian war, are the backdrop to the book. The Organ Grinder Factor has a secondary task to deliver food for thought within the action-oriented narrative.
This epic tale features Cyd Seeley, a botanist and broke rancher, and Dr. Alex Farmer, a recovering drug addict. The characters are making their second appearance in Steele’s engrossing series.
As the attention grasping, riveting story begins with the two main protagonists – Alex and Cyd – on desperate search of a place to safely grow their Cannastar, a miracle cure for viruses that Big Pharm has made illegal.
They set sail from Africa’s west coast and landed in Guinea-Bissau, a drug- and war-torn country. Forced to flee for their lives, they arrive in Senegal where they become involved in the country’s real-life child slavery problem and are nearly killed for their efforts.
They find refuge in Israel where they meet the inventor of the ‘Organ Grinder’, an appropriately named 3D printer that replaces damaged internal organs without the need for surgery.
This is based on scientific research that has shown scientists can reproduce human tissue using a 3D printer. This takes the best of additive manufacturing and biological science and puts them to use at a new level in biotechnology.
In the book, the experimental research is funded by a ruthless billionaire with a secret past who becomes Cyd and Alex’s investor in a vast new Cannastar plantation. Even in the most technologically advanced societies, it is possible for wealthy individuals and big corporations to influence ordinary people’s lives.
Cyd, a resident of Israel, is severely wounded by a rocket attack. Her only chance of survival is the Organ Grinder — which has never been tested on a human being. This is an exciting piece.
The plot is now complete. The Organ Grinder Factor is the action-filled follow-up to Steele’s The Cannastar FactorThis article introduced readers to Cyd, Alex, and traced their desperate search to grow Cannastar.
Book 3 in the series Miracles and the Trouble with Miracles, has just been released and tells the story of a desperate race to keep the discovery of the ancient secret to fusion energy out of the wrong hands in an adventure that ranges from Chile’s high northern desert to the magic of Easter Island and its mysterious statues.