Lab-grown technologies may help change the way certain human diseases are studied and treated.
A limited supply of donor organs, paired with a massive demand for transplants, has fuelled the global organ trafficking industry, which exploits poor, underprivileged and persecuted members of society as a source of organs to be purchased by wealthy transplant tourists.
(AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
China’s industrial-scale organ trafficking practice has been executing prisoners of conscience and using their organs for transplantation for decades. This is known as forced organ harvesting.
Cross-species transplants require us to examine the relationships between humans and animals.
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The heart used in the first pig-human transplant was infected with a pig virus. This reveals that using other species as organ donors may not provide a solution for organ shortages.
Xenotransplantation is the transplanting of cells, tissues or organs from animals to humans. Pre-clinical trials of organ transplant from pigs have addressed some of the technical barriers.
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New developments in organ transplants from animals show promise. However, there has been no public engagement about a potential risk. It may streamline a pathway to humans for new zoonotic diseases.
Brain sex isn’t a thing.
Sunny/Stone via Getty Images
Lise Eliot, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science
Rather than distinctly male or female, the human brain is much more like the heart, kidneys and lungs – basically the same no matter the sex of the body it’s in.
The need for donated organs can be addressed using a novel 3D-printing technique.
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Printing organs could reduce the need for human donor organs. And 3D printed organs using a patient’s own cells would increase successful organ transplants by reducing the risk of rejection.
The tear glands were cultured as ‘organoids’ in a Petri dish.
Hubrecht Institute/Marie Bannier-Hélaouët
Next, researchers want to grow the tear glands of a crocodile – seriously.
This Bioculture System will let biologists learn about how space impacts human health by studying cells grown in the microgravity environment of the International Space Station.
NASA/Ames Research Center/Dominic Hart
Why are scientists trying to grow organs at the International Space Station? People live on Earth not in zero-gravity. A stem cell expert explains why it is useful to do these experiments in space.
An image of the popular Sandy Macpherson from circa 1958. Macpherson played soothing music for BBC listeners during Second World War.
(BBC Programming)
The body tries to plug a wound quickly to stop germs getting in through broken skin and making you sick. But behind the scenes, your blood is working hard to repair a wound.
If you have been drinking more water than your body needs, the body tells the kidney filters to get rid of the spare water. That’s when your urine will look paler.
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The idea of human-animal hybrids can raise a lot of questions and it’s easy to feel they are “unnatural” because they violate the boundaries between species.
Pieter Vancamp, Muséum national d’histoire naturelle (MNHN)
Our body is able to regulate its temperature very effectively, but heat waves can damage certain organs if we are not careful…
Fluorescence microscopy image of the newly formed blood vessels after injection of our seaweed-derived hydrogel in a muscle. In green are the blood vessels and in blue the cell nuclei.
Aurelien Forget, Roberto Gianni-Barrera, Andrea Banfi and Prasad Shastri
Small wounds can usually heal by themselves, but larger wounds can be a problem. With a little help from a seaweed we can help the body regenerate new blood vessels.
Right now, your kidneys are getting rid of all things your body does not need. They do this by ‘cleaning’ your blood.
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