A study, in the journal Nature Medicine, showed the engineered kidneys were less effective than natural ones. However, regenerative medicine researchers said the field had huge promise.
Kidneys filter the blood to remove waste and excess water. They are also the most in-demand organ for transplant, with long waiting lists. The researchers‘ vision is to take an old kidney and strip it of all its old cells to leave a honeycomb-like scaffold. The kidney would then be rebuilt with cells taken from the patient. This would have two major advantages over current organ transplants.
The tissue would match the patient, so they would not need a lifetime of drugs to suppress the immune system to prevent rejection. It would also vastly increase the number of organs available for transplant. Most organs which are offered are rejected, but they could be used as templates for new ones.
According to scientists, there is a huge amount of further research that would be needed before this is even considered in people. The technique needs to be more efficient so a greater level of kidney function is restored. Researchers also need to prove that the kidney will continue to function for a long time.
There will also be challenges with the sheer size of a human kidney. It is harder to get the cells in the right place in a larger organ.
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reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com