Instead of having to wait for one of the limited number of available donor kidneys, patients in need of a transplant may eventually be able to have a new kidney custom-grown for them. That possibility recently took one step closer to reality, as scientists at Australia’s University of Queensland successfully grew a “mini-kidney” from stem cells.
The researchers created a proprietary new protocol, that prompts stem cells in a petri dish to self-organize into a miniature kidney. “During self-organization, different types of cells arrange themselves with respect to each other to create the complex structures that exist within an organ, in this case, the kidney,” says project leader Prof. Melissa Little.
via Gizmag
