Surgeons Carry Out First Synthetic Organ Transplant

[Robin]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14047670

They replaced a guys windpipe with one grown in a lab using stem cells. They made a replica of his original one using 3D mapping images. Really remarkable stuff and its the first time that a man made organ has gone into someone.

Robin.

 

[Dennisch]

👍 for stem cell research.

 

[sumbrownkid]

Only a matter of time synthetic organs will be used.

Hopefully in the future this can be developed and marketed so that the illegal organ trade takes a big hit.

 

[1241Penguin]

Stem cells FTW! I did a research project on it once.

Anyone read "House of the Scorpion"? The organ transplanting in the story might just make it into the real world!

 

[Eric.]

Wait, they made a replica out of glass and then it "magically" becomes tissue after being soaked with stem cells? Where's the glass now?

 

[Blaze_409]

Exactly.This is the power of stem cell research....The power to regenerate absolutely any part of the human body.....

I've never understood why people oppose this.

Wait, they made a replica out of glass and then it "magically" becomes tissue after being soaked with stem cells? Where's the glass now?

the glass was a mold for the cells lol.......the cells grew around the mold....

 

[BrutherSuperior]

Exactly.This is the power of stem cell research....The power to regenerate absolutely any part of the human body.....

I've never understood why people oppose this.




the glass was a mold for the cells lol.......the cells grew around the mold....

People oppose federal funding into embryonic stem-cell research. The stem cell research that has success and lots of private funding actually use stem cells taken from the patient themselves.

Big difference.

 

[1241Penguin]

I believe people oppose stem cell research because to get these stem cells, people need to "kill" an unborn baby (that is still in its very early stages). There is another technique for getting stem cells that I forgot the details of.

 

[Blaze_409]

People oppose federal funding into embryonic stem-cell research. The stem cell research that has success and lots of private funding actually use stem cells taken from the patient themselves.

Big difference.

This is why if you want to do breath taking science you leave the U.S. lol. other countries are definitely ahead of us in terms of this kind of research

 

[Luminis]

👍 for stem cell research.

+1

It's amazing what can be done by science today, if it is free to do so. I don't want into the discussion about morale and such, I just think it's incredibly impressive.
A few more decades, and you'll be able to get rid of almost every desease you might have - if you have the money to do so.

 

[Omnis]

Wait, they made a replica out of glass and then it "magically" becomes tissue after being soaked with stem cells? Where's the glass now?

Yep, they normally drip a surfactant solution through an already-made organ to slough off all the cells and reveal the protein scaffolding needed. See, they can grow organs in the lab just fine but the problem is they grow into a giant useless pancake without some kind of structure to form around. It looks like they finally made a material solution that bypasses the need for biologically-sourced scaffolding.

Only a matter of time synthetic organs will be used.

Hopefully in the future this can be developed and marketed so that the illegal organ trade takes a big hit.

They're not synthetic organs, they're your own organs grown around a synthetic template. The whole reason to do this is so that you eliminate any chance of rejection. It's pretty fascinating stuff. I'll be working in this field in the future. The science is already there-- right now it's just expensive and complicated. This is going to completely revolutionize medicine once it becomes economical and broadly accessible.

 

[Encyclopedia]

Wow, just wow.👍

 

[Stevisiov]

They're not synthetic organs, they're your own organs grown around a synthetic template. The whole reason to do this is so that you eliminate any chance of rejection. It's pretty fascinating stuff. I'll be working in this field in the future. The science is already there-- right now it's just expensive and complicated. This is going to completely revolutionize medicine once it becomes economical and broadly accessible.

This.

It's just one of the few major biological breakthroughs that we can hope to see in the next 30 years or so. It's great to see its already coming together.