WHAT IF... We shared our homes with pigs bred to provide replacement human organs?

Exhibit at the WHAT IF... Exhibition in the Science Gallery, Trinity College, Dublin in 2009
Utility Pets, 2003 by Elio Caccavale

Utility Pets is an experimental project that uses products to draw attention to the ethical consequences of xenotransplantation - the transplantation of animal organs into humans. In an imagined not so-distant future, shortly after birth people will be given a piglet with their own DNA engineered into it. The pig, known as a knockout pig' in the scientific jargon, is a form of a living insurance policy - an organ bank. This project explores what kind of new objects might be needed if the pig lives in the home with its owner's family.

The Utility Pet products include:
One: A pig toy with a microphone and a radio handset allowing the owner to listen to the pig enjoying itself.
Two: A smoke-filtering device allowing a person to smoke in front of the pig without it suffering the consequences of passive smoking.
Three: A low-resolution TV exclusively for pigs, which they can control themselves.
Four: A comforter - a psychological product made from the snout of a pig, which helps people come to terms with the contradictory feelings generated by this complex situation.

Category:

Science & Technology

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