One of the most common fantasies in science fiction is that some evil government will start stealing people's organs for important politicians — or, worse, implanting organs into people that control them somehow (think mind-control implants or the heart plugs in Dune). Luckily for people in the United States, the government is unlikely to get involved in the artificial organ trade.

In fact, nearly all the money put into developing synthetic organs in the U.S. (about $3.5 billion) has come from private industry. Apparently the government considers synthetic hearts too much of a "hot button" issue with religious groups. So funders snub anyone looking for cash to develop next-gen organs that will probably save our lives in 20 years. Unfortunately, you'll only be able to license your organs, since they're provided by private industry. Wonder if the right of first sale applies to synthetic organs? [Growing Body Parts via RedOrbit's aggregation of a Kansas City Star article]