Windpipe Transplant
Stem cells taken from a woman were used to grow new cells that were grafted onto a donated trachea, in effect giving the woman a new trachea. Ideally, a person would receive a new organ grown from their own cells, but this is the next step in organ transplant.
- photo via news.bbc.co.uk
“Surgeons can now start to see and understand the potential for adult stem cells and tissue engineering to radically improve their ability to treat patients with serious diseases.”
He said that in 20 years time, virtually any transplant organ could be made in this way.
US scientists have already successfully implanted bladder patches grown in the laboratory from patients’ own cells into people with bladder disease.
The European research team, which also includes experts from the University of Padua and the Polytechnic of Milan in Italy, is applying for funding to do windpipe and voice box transplants in cancer patients.
Clinical trials could begin five years from now, they said.
Link and photos via news.bbc.co.uk.
