http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_205000/205477.stm
Sunday, November 1, 1998
Thumbs up for organs 'grown to order'
A new breakthrough by a team of American scientists is being hailed as
next step towards growing human body organs and tissues to order.
The thumb of factory worker Raul Murcia, 36, which was irreparably
crushed in an industrial accident, has been grown back using a
revolutionary new technique pioneered by doctors at the University of
Massachusetts. They were able to grow new thumb bone tissue to the
correct size and dimensions using sea coral as a kind of template.
The coral has a hollow structure that shapes the bone as it regrows,
while slowly dissolving before eventually disappearing entirely.
At present, Mr Murcia cannot bend his thumb, but doctors hope to rebuild
the joint and add cartilage at a later stage.
Project Leader Dr Charles Vacanti of the University of Massachusetts
predicts that
within 20 to 30 years the same procedure could allow scientists to grow
any organ,
for example a kidney or a liver, from a tissue sample.
"It's a very complex problem to replace an entire limb, but I believe,
if this is successful, this is the first step in humans to accomplishing
such a goal," he said.
Because the tissue is the patient's own, there is no danger of
rejection.
The Massachusetts team, which three years ago controversially grew a
human ear on the back of a mouse, is already looking at the possibility
of producing a pancreas for diabetics and nerve tissue for stroke
victims.
The successful operation follows a breakthrough at Harvard Medical
School in the science of growing human brain cells.
Assistant Professor of Biology Evan Snyder has come up with a procedure
for infinitely multiplying brain stem cells under lab conditions,
opening up the possibility of a
treatment for brain damage.
--
Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada
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