- A new breakthrough by a team of American
scientists is being hailed as next step towards growing human body organs
and tissues to order.
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- The thumb of factory worker Raul Murcia,
36, which was irreparably crushed in an industrial accident, has been grown
back using a revolutionary new technique pioneered by doctors at the University
of Massachusetts.
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- They were able to grow new thumb bone
tissue to the correct size and dimensions using sea coral as a kind of
template.
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- The coral has a hollow structure that
shapes the bone as it regrows, while slowly dissolving before eventually
disappearing entirely.
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- At present, Mr Murcia cannot bend his
thumb, but doctors hope to rebuild the joint and add cartilage at a later
stage.
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- Project Leader Dr Charles Vacanti of
the University of Massachusetts predicts that within 20 to 30 years the
same procedure could allow scientists to grow any organ, for example a
kidney or a liver, from a tissue sample.
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- "It's a very complex problem to
replace an entire limb, but I believe, if this is successful, this is the
first step in humans to accomplishing such a goal," he said.
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- Because the tissue is the patient's own,
there is no danger of rejection.
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- The Massachusetts team, which three years
ago controversially grew a human ear on the back of a mouse, is already
looking at the possibility of producing a pancreas for diabetics and nerve
tissue for stroke victims.
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- The successful operation follows a breakthrough
at Harvard Medical School in the science of growing human brain cells.
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- Assistant Professor of Biology Evan Snyder
has come up with a procedure for infinitely multiplying brain stem cells
under lab conditions, opening up the possibility of a treatment for brain
damage.
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