Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have successfully managed to engineer human arteries using muscle cells. Dr Laura Niklason and colleagues found that they could coax smooth muscle cells to produce fully-functioning arteries by introducing into them a so-called immortality gene called hTERT, which gives cancer cells their immortality. The experiment was done in the laboratory, and it is likely to be several years before trials in humans can start. However, the ability to produce new blood vessels from a patient’s own muscle cells would be a major medical breakthrough, as they could be used in many operations where surgeons currently have to insert plastic tubing to form new vessels.
SOURCE/REFERENCE: Reported by www.bbc.co.uk on the 5th June 2003
