Kidneys Grown From Stem Cells Transplaneted Into Rats, Pigs

Japanese researchers have successfully grown a pair of kidneys in a laboratory which were transplanted into an animal and verified as functioning correctly. This is the first step to growing such organs and transplanting them into humans.

So far, rats and pigs have been tried. The first wave was with rats, but what is more interesting is the effect with a more complex animal like a pig. The success shown here bring the possibility of a human kidney transplant, using laboratory engineered kidneys, a step closer.

The newly grown kidneys were created from stem cells, using rats as the incubators for the growing embryonic tissue. The kidneys are grown complete with a drainage tube and bladder for the collection of urine.

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After Cell Transplant, Paralyzed Man Can Walk

A paralysed man has been able to walk again after a pioneering therapy that involved transplanting cells from his nasal cavity into his spinal cord.

Darek Fidyka, who was paralysed from the chest down in a knife attack in 2010, can now walk using a frame.

The treatment, a world first, was carried out by surgeons in Poland in collaboration with scientists in London.

Details of the research are published in the journal Cell Transplantation.

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