“Latest Stem Cells News”

Image via Wikipedia

It raises hopes that kidney disease patients will one day be able to grow their own new organs with no risk of rejection.

Kidneys 5mm long – the size of those in foetuses – were made using a combination of cells from amniotic fluid, which surrounds babies in the womb, and animal foetal cells.

It is hoped the organs could be grown to maturity if implanted in a patient. In future, people’s amniotic fluid could be retained at birth, allowing it to be used later if they develop kidney disease.

‘The idea is to start with human stem cells and end up with a functioning organ,’ said physiologist professor Jamie Davies, whose University of Edinburgh team carried out the work.

‘We are working on how you turn cells floating about in liquid into something as precisely arranged as a kidney. We have made pretty good progress with that.

‘We can make something that has the complexity of a normal, foetal kidney but not an adult one yet.’

Stem cell technology could be ready for use on humans in about ten years, he said.

A US team has already shown a foetal kidney can be put into an adult animal and grown there. About 7,000 people are on the waiting list for kidney transplants but there is a serious shortage of the organs.

Incoming search terms:

Kidney stem cells, according to some experts, could be able to repair kidney damage if used properly. The first researchers to identify the cells were scientists at the University of Florence, who published an article recently in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. Giuseppe Remuzzi, the head of the Nephrology and Dialysis division of the United Hospitals of Bergamo recently spoke about their potential in Milan at the World Nephrology Congress.

“The truth about stem cells,” explained the expert, “ is what US President Barack Obama pointed out when he announced the repeal of laws banning the federal financing of embryonic stem cell studies. They are promising, but there is still a lot of work to do. Currently, these cells treat very few diseases. We must study them and compare the various types.”

Many scientists, continued Remuzzi, believe in them, although the results are few and mostly have been obtained in vitro. “Everyone’s dream is to repair organs with stem cells.” There are good possibilities for kidneys, he added. “Since stem cells could be responsible for a regeneration process observed in animals treated with Ace-inhibitor drugs, which delay the progression of kidney diseases. The idea is that these cells have an innate ability to repair damages, which, through the use of drugs, can be directed and sustained, with good results.”

Incoming search terms: