A leading US surgeon has announced that he is ready to perform the World’s first human transplant of a laboratory-grown organ. Dr Anthony Atala will transplant the bioengineered bladder as soon as he obtains approval from the FDA, which he expects to receive in the next few months. If the bladder transplant is successful, Atala then hopes to repair damaged hearts with new muscle or attempt to grow a new kidney. Two years ago, Atala and his colleagues announced that they had successfully given six dogs new lab-grown bladders. To create the organs, the scientists took tissue samples from the dogs’ original bladder, and used them to cultivate new muscle cells and specialized bladder cells. The cultured cells were then grown into a bladder shape using a polymer ball as scaffolding. “I think that following the same strategies just about every organ in the body will be repairable at the very least,” Atala said.
SOURCE/REFERENCE: Reported by www.bbc.co.uk on the 15th February 2002
