In a society where pill-popping is the answer to many a medical malady, severely dysfunctional or damaged organs are especially frustrating—they’re usually beyond the reach of any known drugs. Cell-based therapy, though, is no drug: Using patients’ own cells, medical experts have successfully grafted the first engineered-from-scratch urethras.
The story starts with five Mexican boys, aged 10 to 14, whose urethras were damaged beyond repair because of accidents.
“When they first came in, they had a leg bag that drains urine, and they have to carry this bag everywhere they go,” says Dr. Anthony Atala of Wake Forest University in North Carolina. “It’s uncomfortable and painful. So these children were mostly sitting or bed-bound.” [NPR]
Currently the usual treatment calls for an artificial graft, which has a failure chance as high as 50% (and failure here means a lifetime of infections and incontinence). “When an organ or tissue is irreparably damaged or traumatically destroyed, no amount of drugs or mechanical devices will restore the patient back to normal,” regenerative medicine expert Chris Mason, from University College London, told the BBC. Read More