Artificial trachea on a plastic frame
An artificially grown trachea was transplanted to a patient dying of cancer<url>
The first transplant operation of a human organ grown entirely in a laboratory was performed at the Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden.
A 36-year-old patient, an African student living in Iceland, had a trachea transplanted, which biotechnologists managed to grow on the basis of his own stem cells. The patient was suffering from life-threatening tracheal cancer. This was reported by the British newspaper The Gardian on July 8, 2011 (Cancer patient receives first synthetic organ transplant) and the hospital's website (First Successful Transplantation of a Synthetic Tissue Engineered Windpipe).
Photo from the website of Karolinska University
Until now, scientists have managed to grow a new windpipe using collagen "bases" from the trachea of deceased people. This time the trachea was made from scratch.
First, a Y-shaped base was created from a new plastic-like nanocomposite polymer consisting of microscopic building blocks.
Two days later, the patient's stem cells were placed there, where they were grown to tracheal cells ready for transplantation. A bioreactor specially developed by biotechnologists at Harvard University (USA) was used to "seed" cells.
According to experts, this pioneering operation is very important for children, as it is very difficult for them to find a donor trachea.
The operation was performed by Professor Paolo Macchiarini, who, together with Professor Alexander Seifalian from University College London, came up with a Y-shaped base for growing the trachea. Since the new organ is grown from the patient's own cells, there is no risk of rejection of the transplanted trachea.
"For the first time, it was possible to create a fully artificially synthesized windpipe and successfully transplant it, which is an important step in the field of regenerative medicine. We hope that the developed new polymer will receive even more amazing applications," Professor Saifalian said in a comment. It is reported that prior to this, the patient was at a late stage of cancer development and radiation did not help stop the disease. Now the patient feels well and should be discharged from the hospital on July 8.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru08.07.2011