How do you grow an entire limb in the lab?
In a study published in the journal Biomaterials, researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital outlined a recipe, of sorts.
They took a dead rat's limb and stripped it of all its cells leaving a matrix of veins and nervous tissue, which acts as a support system for the new cells.
They then placed the matrix in a device known as a bioreactor while scientists injected new cells into the matrix.
In order to ensure that the new limb developed normally, researchers injected vascular cells into the main artery and muscle progenitor cells (cells that are slightly more advanced than stem cells) into the areas of the matrix that are marked as muscle positions.
After following the development of the bioengineered limb for two weeks, scientists found that it was able to contract at 80 percent of the strength of muscle found in new born animals.
The limb's vascular system also functioned normally after being transplanted into a recipient animal.
Watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p143bISuEJk
Paper:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014296121500438X
Article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/06/04/massachusetts-general-hospital-scientists-generate-a-lab-created-limb-for-the-first-time_n_7508816.html?ncid=edlinkushpmg00000030
#scitech #limb #research #medicine #decellularization
Humans one day, that would be fantastic
ReplyDeleteAlthough they would have to get over the "Dead Rat" issue before I'd use it to replace my limbs...
ReplyDeleteGotta read tonight. There is a lot that goes on holistically during the process of embryo-genesis and so I'm surprised they are able to reproduce these factors to generate a limb.
ReplyDeleteOK, I know how I want my damaged elbow to be replaced in ten years ;-)
ReplyDelete