Growing Organs In The Lab: A potential end to immune rejection

[Clark]

http://www.physiciansnews.com/2011/12/03/growing-organs-in-the-lab-a-potential-end-to-immune-rejection/

Growing Organs In The Lab: A potential end to immune rejection
By David Green

Last June, Andemarian T. Beyene, 36-year-old man with tracheal cancer received a special gift:  a brand new trachea, made from a synthetic scaffold seeded with his own stem cells.  Following this surgery—the first of its kind—he made a full recovery and was discharged from the hospital four weeks later.  The procedure made international headlines, and shone a much-needed spotlight on two important problems that it might help in part to resolve:  long wait times for organ transplants, and immune rejection of implanted organs.  In what follows, we offer a brief overview of these issues, look a bit closer at the surgery itself, and ponder some of the implications.

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