An organ donation breakthrough

A growing form of donation is expanding the organ supply in the US — and testing how medicine protects dying patients.

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July 17, 2026 10:45am EDT

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Over the past decade, the number of human organs available for transplant has risen massively in the United States. That spike is almost entirely due to the increase/development/advent of a once-obscure donation pathway known as “donation after circulatory death.” Thanks to new technologies and medical techniques, tens of thousands of organs that would have once been unusable have made their way to patients who need them. But that medical triumph has also raised urgent ethical questions about how physicians negotiate the boundary between life and death.

In a recent feature, Pratik Pawar explores both how this shift came about and why some remain cautious about the changes it has wrought.

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—Jacob Brogan, deputy editor, Future Perfect