Anenome
04-04-2011, 06:28 AM
http://i.imgur.com/4ifaL.jpg
This is a bit more announcement than substance, but here it is nonetheless:
Live human heart grown in lab using stem cells in potential transplant breakthrough (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1372938/Live-human-heart-grown-lab-using-stem-cells-potential-transplant-breakthrough.html)
In this technique, a donor heart is taken and washed in such a way that all the heart-muscle cells are gone but the collagen lining remains.
Then, cells from the patient are cultured and "seeded" into the structure of the collagen scaffold, where they take root, grow, and begin convulsing. The scaffold provides anchor points for all the new cells, and readymade artery pathways, which are seeded with artery-specific cells.
The whole thing is kept in an oxygen and nutrient wash until you can get the vascular structure working.
Eventually you have a fully functioning heart. Though, this is just the first step. A heart would need some time to gain strength before you could trust it to actually work as a ready replacement and be strong enough to support an adult.
Scientists are growing human hearts in laboratories, offering hope for millions of cardiac patients.
American researchers believe the artificial organs could start beating within weeks.
‘There are many hurdles to overcome to generate a fully functioning heart, but my prediction is that it may one day be possible to grow entire organs for transplant.’
Patients given normal heart transplants must take drugs to suppress their immune systems for the rest of their lives.
If new hearts could be made using a patient’s own stem cells, it is less likely they would be rejected.Collagen doesn't provoke an immune response, so they're in the clear on that score.
In 2007, British doctors grew a human heart valve using stem cells taken from a patient’s bone marrow.
A year later, scientists grew a beating animal heart for the first time.
Dr Taylor’s team have already created beating rat and pig hearts. Although they were too weak to be used in animals, the work was an important step towards tailor-made organs.
Dr Taylor told the Sunday Times: ‘We are a long way off creating a heart for transplant, but we think we’ve opened a door to building any organ for human transplant.’
So will it work in the end? Still an open question. But we're now this much closer to the kind of medical repair see in Mass Effect 2 or Starship Troopers.
This is a bit more announcement than substance, but here it is nonetheless:
Live human heart grown in lab using stem cells in potential transplant breakthrough (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1372938/Live-human-heart-grown-lab-using-stem-cells-potential-transplant-breakthrough.html)
In this technique, a donor heart is taken and washed in such a way that all the heart-muscle cells are gone but the collagen lining remains.
Then, cells from the patient are cultured and "seeded" into the structure of the collagen scaffold, where they take root, grow, and begin convulsing. The scaffold provides anchor points for all the new cells, and readymade artery pathways, which are seeded with artery-specific cells.
The whole thing is kept in an oxygen and nutrient wash until you can get the vascular structure working.
Eventually you have a fully functioning heart. Though, this is just the first step. A heart would need some time to gain strength before you could trust it to actually work as a ready replacement and be strong enough to support an adult.
Scientists are growing human hearts in laboratories, offering hope for millions of cardiac patients.
American researchers believe the artificial organs could start beating within weeks.
‘There are many hurdles to overcome to generate a fully functioning heart, but my prediction is that it may one day be possible to grow entire organs for transplant.’
Patients given normal heart transplants must take drugs to suppress their immune systems for the rest of their lives.
If new hearts could be made using a patient’s own stem cells, it is less likely they would be rejected.Collagen doesn't provoke an immune response, so they're in the clear on that score.
In 2007, British doctors grew a human heart valve using stem cells taken from a patient’s bone marrow.
A year later, scientists grew a beating animal heart for the first time.
Dr Taylor’s team have already created beating rat and pig hearts. Although they were too weak to be used in animals, the work was an important step towards tailor-made organs.
Dr Taylor told the Sunday Times: ‘We are a long way off creating a heart for transplant, but we think we’ve opened a door to building any organ for human transplant.’
So will it work in the end? Still an open question. But we're now this much closer to the kind of medical repair see in Mass Effect 2 or Starship Troopers.