Researchers grow functional kidneys from stem cells that work in live animals
Japanese researchers have successfully grown and transplanted a kidney, from laboratory to rat. The kidney and bladder, once implanted, functioned perfectly.
The experiment was repeated, this time on a pig, and it worked again. The kidney continued to grow and function as if it were the pig's own organ.
The researchers say they are years away from growing a kidney for a human, but that the creation and implementation for the pig and rat are a huge advancement.
"Worldwide, the number of patients with end-stage renal disease requiring renal replacement therapy is increasing because of the shortage of donor organs," researchers wrote in the study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "We have successfully generated functional kidneys from human stem cells using the organogenic niche method."
The scientists were having trouble because the kidneys wouldn't produce urine. By creating a pathway for the urine by growing new bladders, they were able to attach them to the rats' current bladders and the urine began to flow.
"This is an interesting step forward," Chris Mason, a professor at University College London who was not involved with the research, told the BBC. "The science looks strong and they have good data in animals. But that's not to say this will work in humans. We are still years off that. It's very much mechanistic. It moves us closer to understanding how the plumbing might work."
http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2015/09/22/Lab-grown-kidneys-shown-to-work-in-animals/3711442924505/