The Current for Jan. 12, 2022
Today on The Current:
Last week, the genetically modified heart of a pig was transplanted into the chest of a critically ill man. It was the first time this transplant had ever been done, and its outcome could change the future of transplant medicine. Matt Galloway talks about the transplant operation with Dr. R.J. Cusimano, a cardiac surgeon at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre and a professor for the Department of Surgery at the University of Toronto; and Jennifer Fishman, an associate professor on the biomedical ethics unit at McGill University, about the ethical questions surrounding animal-to-human organ transplants.
Then, our panel of experts talk to us about Dry January and re-examing the role of alcohol in life and society. Our panel consists of Ivy Knight, a freelance writer, journalist and fixture in Toronto's restaurant scene; Ariel Ng Bourbonnais, a yoga teacher and research analyst who stopped drinking last year; and Fiona Hepher, the CEO and co-founder of dealcoholized beverage distributor and importer Sansorium.
And the Globe and Mail's Health Columnist André Picard discusses Quebec's new medical tax on unvaccinated Quebecers.
Also, after months of popular protests calling for social reforms, 155 people have been given the responsibility of drafting Chile's new constitution. Fernando Atria is one of those people — and he speaks to us about the necessity of drafting a new constitution for the country. We also hear from Guillermo Larrain, an economist and the author of The Stability of the Social Contract in Chile.
