Organ grown in mouse offers transplant hope

EMBARGOED TO 1800 SUNDAY AUGUST 24 Undated handout photo issued by Medical Research Council of induced thymic epithelial cells (iTECs) transplanted onto a mouse kidney to form an organised and functional mini-thymus (Kidney cells in pink; thymus cells dark blue). Reprogrammed cells created in a laboratory have been used to build a complete and functional organ in a living animal for the first time. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Sunday August 24, 2014. Reprogrammed cells created in a laboratory have been used to build a complete and functional organ in a living animal for the first time. See PA story HEALTH Thymus. Photo credit should read: Medical Research Council/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.
EMBARGOED TO 1800 SUNDAY AUGUST 24 Undated handout photo issued by Medical Research Council of induced thymic epithelial cells (iTECs) transplanted onto a mouse kidney to form an organised and functional mini-thymus (Kidney cells in pink; thymus cells dark blue). Reprogrammed cells created in a laboratory have been used to build a complete and functional organ in a living animal for the first time. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Sunday August 24, 2014. Reprogrammed cells created in a laboratory have been used to build a complete and functional organ in a living animal for the first time. See PA story HEALTH Thymus. Photo credit should read: Medical Research Council/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.
PA:PRESS ASSOCIATION

A fully functional organ has been grown from scratch in a living animal for the first time, in an advance that could revolutionise the treatment of transplant patients.

Scientists grew a working thymus, the organ that generates the body’s supply of immune cells, within the bodies of mice. The organ was seeded from a blob of cells, raising the prospect of “off-the-shelf” replacement organs.

Clare Blackburn, who led the work at the University of Edinburgh, said: “The ability to grow replacement organs from cells in the lab is one of the ‘holy grails’ in regenerative medicine.”


The thymus is located near the heart and produces T-cells, which protect the body from disease. About one in 4,000 babies each year is born with an impaired or