'Grow-your-own' organs hope after scientists produce liver in lab from stem cells

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By FIONA MACRAE
Last updated at 7:56 AM on 14th June 2010
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Scientists have grown a liver in a laboratory, offering fresh hope to hundreds of thousands of patients with diseased and damaged organs.

It raises the prospect of those in need of transplants one day being offered livers that are ‘made to order’.

The first pieces of lab-grown livers could be used in hospitals within just five years, the researchers said.




A decellularised rat liver retaining its network of blood vessels, a technique grown by scientists which could be used to grow livers for human transplants


Patches of artificial tissue could be used to repair livers damaged by injury, disease, alcohol abuse and paracetamol overdose.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1286266/Scientists-grow-laboratory-liver-giving-hope-millions-diseased-organs.html

[geardaddy]

1. I'd like to see kidneys soon.

As a transplant patient with a living related donor, I'd like to see something for when my graft peters out.

[TZ]

2. I would hope that wouldn't be much more difficult

Than doing a liver--thats one of the most complex organs we have.

[TheMadMonk]

5. Indeed. Complex enough that livers grow themselves given 1/2 a chance.

Unfortunately, kidney's aren't so accomodating.

[TZ]

7. On a rare occasion.

Ask anybody with Hepatitus C how resiliant a liver is. Seriously. Kidneys are much easier to transplant than Livers. And you have TWO kidneys and can function easily without one. You can survive without SMALL bits of your liver. But not easily. Kidney dialysis while difficult is possible. No artificial substitue for the liver at this point.

[TheMadMonk]

8. Or a 2/5ths a day drinking habit. I did not say that the liver was indestructible.

I said that given the opportunity (and enough remaining healthy tissue) livers can rebuild themselves. Kidneys can't.


Hmm, haven't you heard of a lobe transplant? My understanding is that in time the gross liver will completely rebuild itself (and a copy) from the remaining lobe and the transplanted portion. That is not a SMALL bit of liver.

[Lochloosa]

3. Three recs in 40 mins? This is big. Really big.

[Schema Thing]

4. Drink up!

[krispos42]

6. Whew, no organleggers n/t

[LongTomH]

9. The operant word is "yet!"

If there's a buck to be made in the organlegging racket, expect someone to try. Watch out or you may wake up some morning with no memories of the night before and a new scar!

[krispos42]

10. Well, at least they're confining themselves to Chinese prisoners.

They aren't wandering around the LA slidewalks at night!

[Orrex]

11. Is it going to be all creepy and translucent like that? Yikes!