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One. Step. Closer.

Presented with great joy, but without comment, from New Scientist:

Bladders engineered in the laboratory from patients' own cells and then implanted into the body have succeeded in their first clinical trial ... Growing organs from a patient's own cells means the organs are not rejected after transplantation.

To create the new bladders, the researchers took a biopsy from patients whose bladders functioned poorly due to an inherited nervous system disorder. The team then placed muscle cells and cells from the bladder lining on a biodegradable bladder-shaped scaffold and allowed them to grow for about two months.

The scaffolds were made of the structural protein collagen, in some cases adding polyglycolic acid, a polymer used in surgical sutures.

Comments (7)

Jeni G:

1. Thank goodness for innovative science and medicine. It never ceases to amaze me.

2. They said "biodegradable bladder-shaped scaffold." I giggled a little. Sorry.

Doug:

That is kind of a funny phrase.

That's an incredible article Jason. I'm sure this find brings hope to many people.

Bard:

Read the article in a few different papers. VERY interesting stuff.

Jon:

I'm sad to say, the first thought that crossed my mind was, "Wow, those Progenitors really have their acts together..."

Erik:

Jon,

Ahem...

NEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRDDD!!!!

Zach:

Yeah Jon coughs We all KNOW there is no such thing

Steeve:

That's awesome. I wonder if they could outfit me with an extra bladder, if I wanted....

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