Bodies can be built in a lab? This research is not something that could happen in the distant future. It is being used today to growfresh organs, opening new avenues for studying the disease and the immune system and reduce the need for organ transplants.
Organ culture, the labs are popping up all over the planet, and show impressive results. Here we look at the state of the union of a rapidly advancing field called tissue engineering: what has been achieved so far, and what is just around the corner.
Patients who undergo organ transplants require loads of toxic drugs to suppress your immune system, otherwise your body may reject the organ. However, tissue engineering could make organ transplants a thing of the past. Using a patient’s cells to grow new types of tissue in the lab, researchers are finding new ways of engineering as new body parts using their own cells.
Correspondent Tamara Krinsky visits with Dr. Anthony Atala and learns about building organs in his lab. Wired Science heads to two underground labs in search of neutrinos. Adam Rogers combs Kansas wheat fields for rocks from outer space. Wired Science investigates bring meat and milk from cloned animals to the public.
