IT IS being hailed as a landmark in tissue engineering. Seven youngsters who faced a future of incontinence and serious kidney problems have been given new bladders grown in the lab from their own cells, and grafted onto their existing bladders.
Researchers in regenerative medicine are impressed by the results, which were announced this week by Anthony Atala of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. “This is the first human organ ever grown in the laboratory and transplanted into patients,” says Bob Lanza, head of scientific development at Advanced Cell Technology in Worcester, Massachusetts. “It’s the beginning of a…
