Final answer:
The purpose of the National Organ Transplant Act (NOTA) was to create a national system for organ allocation, prohibit the sale of human organs, and establish the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network for regulated and ethical organ distribution.
Step-by-step explanation:
The National Organ Transplant Act (NOTA) was enacted by the United States Congress in 1984 with the primary purpose of establishing a national system to coordinate the allocation of organs for transplantation and to establish guidelines and regulations for the equitable distribution of donor organs. NOTA prohibits the sale of human organs and initiated the creation of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN), which maintains a registry for organ matching to ensure that organs are distributed in a fair and ethical manner.
NOTA addressed the critical shortage of organ donations and aimed to facilitate and increase the number of organ transplants. Innovative methods, such as the "heart in a box" system developed by TransMedic, extend the viability of donated hearts, and research discussed during the TED Conference about 'printing' organs like kidneys highlights future technologies that could further address organ shortages. Nonetheless, the immediate importance of NOTA lies in its current role in saving lives through the regulation and systematic distribution of organs for transplant.