Modern medical science seems to be making leaps and bounds forward all the time. We don’t have a cure for the common cold, but honestly, that doesn’t matter when you look at some of the amazing things that are happening in laboratories around the world today. Take this recent example of a kidney grown in a lab. This is huge news. Even though techniques to make this kidney were similar to those used to grow other types of organs, the kidney is extraordinarily complex.

Getting the kidney to work right has always been an issue, but new experiments are showing that the scientists are nearly there. They have been able to grow a kidney and transplant it into a rat. At that point, the bioengineered kidneys were able to take over and start filtering blood and making urine. While this is amazing, it is important to remember that growing actual human kidneys is still a ways off. They still need to perfect the technology, as these lab kidneys are not quite as effective as the real thing, at least not yet. Still, they show an amazing amount of promise, and that should be great news for those who work in this field and those who are suffering as well

The technique requires a kidney stripped of its internal contents, which then re-grow thanks to cells from the patient. This scaffolding technique sounds complicated, and it is. However, similar techniques have worked with other organs before, and it works on a small scale with kidneys right now. If these prove to be successful, it could mean that people no longer have to be on a waiting list for kidneys – they can grow them. It also means there is less of a chance that the body will reject the kidney when using this technique. 

Our blog entries are for your information only and are not intended as medical advice. Because everyone is different, we recommend you work with your medical professional to determine what’s best for you.