Miracle Growth in the Lab

From BestHealth, July 2006

The first human recipients of laboratory-grown organs were reported in April by Anthony Atala, M.D., director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine. In The Lancet, Atala describes long-term success in seven patients who received bladders grown from their own cells.

Not only is there no risk of organ rejection, Atala reported that the bladders showed improved function over time. The study involved patients aged 4-19 whose congenital birth defects caused poor bladder function.

Atala implanted the first organ in a patient in 1999, the result of a nine-year effort to develop organs grown from patients’ own cells. His report discusses results of seven children who had the surgery.

Additional clinical trials of the bladders will begin later this year. Atala said the approach needs further study before it can be widely used. He is now working to grow 20 different tissues and organs, including blood vessels and hearts. Scientists hope that laboratory-grown organs can one day solve the shortage of donated organs.

Atala also directs the National Regenerative Medicine Foundation, which recently received $1 million from the U.S. government to research how to treat burns and grow limbs for wounded soldiers.