Grow Your Own Organs

There was a time when a lost leg meant walking with a stick. These days, you just grow a new limb.

Posted by Tormod Guldvog
01 February, 2002 08:02:28

We have seen ears grow on the backs of mice. Pork livers transplanted into humans. Brain cells grown out of rats' bone marrows.

But it doesn't end there: in the future, scientists may be able to take a few cells out of your body and grow entire new organs and limbs. Fancy a new nose? No problem, we'll grow it in a few weeks.

Yes, it may sound like science fiction. And yes, it may sound horrible to some. But stem cells may make it all possible. Stem cells are 'embryonic' cells. That is, they are cells which have not yet been told whether they should turn into eye cells or lung cells. By performing medical trickery on these cells, scientists have shown that they may be able to turn these cells into any kind of body cell.

While we wait for the next revolution in organ production, here's a collection of links to articles and websites which delve further into the matter.

Related Links

Virtual Body
http://www.ehc.com/vbody.asp
The site presents human body using Shockwave technology.

Spare Parts for the New Millennium
http://whyfiles.org/102spareparts/
A truly wonderful page from the WhyFiles. Click on a body part and find out how it will be replaced in the future. (Reported to be a bit slow, so be patient!)

Beyond Cloning
http://www.discover.com/science_news/biology/cloning.html
An article from Discover Magazine about stem cell research, and the possibility for growing new organs.

Stem Cells magazine
http://stemcells.alphamedpress.org/
For the more deeply interested: The Internation Journal of Cell Differentiation and Proliferation.

Study: Bone marrow cells can grow new brain cells
http://www.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/12/01/new.neurons.ap/index.html
An article from CNN Interactive on stem cell research in mice.

Pig organs may save human lives
http://www.mayohealth.org/mayo/9812/htm/xenotransplant.htm
An article from the MayoClinic on xenotransplantation - the science of transplanting animal organs into humans.

Live liver transplants and organ regeneration
http://www.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/mayo/10/20/liver.regeneration/index.html
An article from CNN Interactive which suggest that new methods for organ regeneration may drastically reduce the wait for transplant patients.

Look ma, no fillings
http://www.newscientist.com/nsplus/insight/clone/stem/lookma.html
An article in New Scientist about the possibility for growing new teeth from stem cells.

Grow-Your-Own Organs
http://www.newscientist.com/nsplus/insight/clone/stem/growyourownorgans.html
An article in New Scientist about new findings in tissue regeneration.