Revital Cohen, an art student at the Royal College of Art in London, has produced a piece proposing using animals as medical devices. The idea of a dog sharing its lung capacity with a sickly human presents some interesting questions, regardless of how practical the answers are.
From the Life Support project page:
This project proposes using animals bred commercially for consumption or entertainment as companions and providers of external organ replacement. The use of transgenic farm animals, or retired working dogs, as life support ‘devices’ for renal and respiratory patients offers an alternative to inhumane medical therapies.
Could a transgenic animal function as a whole mechanism and not simply supply the parts? Could humans become parasites and live off another organism’s bodily functions?
Project page: Life Support
(hat tip: We Make Money Not Art)