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Monday, April 11, 2011

Kidneys can be grown in labs

Scientists claim to have grown kidneys in a laboratory by manipulating stem cells, a major breakthrough which could help tackle the shortage of organs for transplant.
Kidneys can be grown in labs

If true then medical science has taken a big stride forward. British scientists have claimed to have grown kidneys in a laboratory by manipulating stem cells.

There are numerous people in the world who face many health hazards caused by the kidney failures. The main problem most of the doctors face is the shortage of kidney donors. There has always been an extreme shortage of donated kidneys for the patients.

A team at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland has actually used stem cells, which are the building blocks of the body, to form the structure of a kidneys.

Team leader Prof Jamie Davies said: "The idea is to start with human stem cells and end up with a functioning organ. If you have got a bunch of stem cells sitting in a test tube, that's a long way from being a beautifully, anatomically organised organ like a kidney that is a complicated structure.

"So we are working on how you turn cells floating about in liquid into something as precisely arranged as a kidney. We have made pretty good progress with that. We can make something that has the complexity of a normal, foetal kidney but not an adult one yet."

The newly created organs measure half a centimetre in length - the same size as a kidney in a foetus; and, the team hopes the tiny kidneys will be able to grow to maturity after being transplanted into human bodies, 'The Scotsman' reported.

In this process, the scientists claim that the doctors will not face the problems of organ rejection. The rejection of the transplanted organ has been one of the major problems in the success rate of the transplantation.

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