3D Human Cells Grown

SR_melb writes writes to tell us that Melbourn researchers have, for the first time, managed to grow three dimensional human cells. This bypasses previous achievements of only being able to create two-dimensional constructions like skin. From the article: "Professor Wayne Morrison, from Melbourne's Bernard O'Brien Institute of Microsurgery has led the breakthrough. He says it's a world first and predicts the discovery will ultimately lead to the creation of human organs, including parts of the heart, by using the patients' own stem cells. Such a scenario, says Professor Morrison, would reduce the problem of immune rejection which is often associated with organ transplants."

It's the vessel

[Anonymous Coward]

FTA: We have developed a special chamber which is patented with the Bernard O'Brien logo and this essentially is an empty box into which we implant a blood vessel using microsurgery techniques. And this is the link with the microsurgery, that we use microsurgery to create this environment and we mix cells inside this chamber and we let them grow according to the specific environment that we can create.

I work in a biomedical engineering lab that develops new imaging techniques and we grow tissue phantoms comprised of cells embedded in a collagen matrix - I think they would fit the bill of a 3D cell matrix. Other professors at our university also work to grow neurons, vascular beds, and heart tissue. The difference is that this group can grow the matrix around a blood vessel using their chamber. The vascularization issue is the main problem facing tissue engineers today and their "patented chamber" allows them to bypass the problem, although I do not see this development as a major leap forward. Until tissue can be grown with functional capillary beds, something this group has not managed to do, it can not be incorporated into a working organ for implantation. At best these boxes can be used for research and perhaps in an artificial liver type device. It is interesting to note the beating heart cells, though.

This is a breakthrough?

[gm0e]

This inkjet printer mod [trnmag.com] was done over a year ago and accomplished the same thing as far as I can tell.

What the article doesn't say...

[CrankyOldBastard]

What the article doesn't mention, is that as well as approving the research grant, Peter Costello also added an additional $300,000AUD from his own funds to the project.

I don't agree with the Liberal Party's politics. I don't agree with the Economic Rationalism that Costello uses to justify many of his economic decisions as Australia's 2nd most powerful politician.

But I can't help respecting this man. Imagine what the world could be like if all the filthy-rich politicians were to fund things like this with no strings attached. I will never vote for his party, but if he was a Queensland senator (he isnt) I'd have no problems giving him preferences right behind the party of my choice (the preceding ststement will make no sense for people with pseudo-democratic voting systems, like the US. Oh well!).

One of the incredibly cool things is that this research didn't rely on Industry Funding, so it's not going to be held for massive profit by some corporation - rather it's going to be "cheap" as stem cell and genomic treatments go.

Peter Costello, I salute you!