Scientists Have Successfully Transplanted a Bioengineered Lung Into a Pig
August 5th, 2018Via: BBC:
To create a new lung, experts used a “scaffold” that provided structural support and slowly built up the lung tissue around it, using cells from the pig that was due to get the transplant.
This was done to prevent the lung being rejected by the pig’s immune system.
Once transplanted, the lung alveolar tissue and blood vessels carried on developing for up to two months.
Not only was the lung not rejected, but it even developed an important population of bacteria.
Lungs suitable for transplant are in short supply and the study is a significant step forward in finding an alternative solution. “People wait for a long time on a transplant list before they are able to receive a donated lung,” said co-author Professor Joan Nichols.
The transplantation of bioengineered lungs has been tried before in small animals, but these efforts have met with failure. There were problems with the blood vessels and the animals suffered from an accumulation of fluid, known as oedema.
“We were able to make a much better developed vasculature in the lungs… and transplant into a larger animal with a larger lung,” said co-author Prof Joaquin Cortiella, from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, US.
