Rat Lung Successfully Regenerated and Transplanted

Dr. Eggman writes "Nature Medicine brings us news of the latest success in the regeneration of the gas exchanging tissues [abstract is free; the full paper requires subscription or payment] of the lungs of a rat. Led by Harald C. Ott, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston used decellularization to produce a cellular scaffolding to serve as the basis of the transplant lungs. You may recall the previous achievements in use of this cellular scaffolding technique by Yale University. This latest announcement comes with the excellent news that the rat's airway and respiratory muscles performed the necessary ventilation (as a normal rat's would), and that they provided gas exchange for up to 6 hours after extubation, up from the previous 2 hours. They eventually failed due to capillary leakage resulting in the accumulation of fluids in the lungs. Although there's much work to be done, as not all the cell types found in the lung were regenerated, Ott and his team remain optimistic and estimated we might see regenerated organs for use in human patients within 5 to 10 years." PhysOrg has videos of the lungs doing their thing.

Around the world...

[Anonymous Coward]

... rats who smoke are rejoicing.

Re:Great thing

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

In the meantime, we really ought to be playing up the coolness, economy, and sex appeal of riding a motorcycle... When it comes to providing otherwise healthy, mostly-intact-below-the-neck, donors, those things are second only to sinister Chinese prisons, and a lot less unethical.

Re:Great thing

[Anonymous Coward]

Vroom! That's the sound of an organ donor speeding overhead...

Re:Great thing

[NFN_NLN]

I'm 27, and I think it'd be great for the need to organ donors to no longer be needed in my lifetime. Not because being an organ donor is a bad thing, but simply because we found a better way of getting organs for those who need them.

I'm 4 years old, and I think it's would be neato if we could solve world hunger in my lifetime. Not because being skinny is a bad thing, but simply because we found a better way of distributing Oreos to those who need them.

I hope this comment was super helpful. Hey, what did you expect, I'm only 4 years old.

Re:Stop animal testing - cruel and ineffective

[Scatterplot]

Yeah, they just test it on animals first 'cause they hate kittens.

Re:Free papers

[Anonymous Coward]

After fourteen years of graduate school, Professor Farnsworth settled into the glamorous life of a scientist. Fast cars, hot nightclubs, beautiful women... the professor designed them all out of his one-bedroom apartment.