Scottish scientists' artificial kidney breakthrough 'could cut donor wait list

[okarol]

Scottish scientists' artificial kidney breakthrough 'could cut donor waiting list'
Researchers at Edinburgh University have successfully grown kidneys from stem cells, raising hopes they could be used in transplants.

10 April 2011 17:45 GMT
Comment
 
Donor card: Artificial organs would reduce demand, says Professor James Neuberger.

A breakthrough in the development of artificial kidneys by Edinburgh University scientists could significantly reduce the demand for donor organs, a transplant expert has said.

Researchers used stem cells to create tiny kidneys, equivalent in size to those of an unborn infant, which they hope will be able to grow to maturity when transplanted into an adult's body.

The kidneys were created in a laboratory using a combination of cells from amniotic fluid, which surrounds babies in the womb, and animal foetal cells.

It raises the prospect of medics being able to create artifical kidneys and other organs for transplant patients in future, if the patient's amniotic fluid has been collected while they were in the womb.

Details of the groundbreaking research are due to be outlined at the Edinburgh International Science Festival in April.

Professor James Neuberger, associate medical director of Organ Donation and Transplantation with NHS Blood and Transplant, said the development was important because the donor pool is shrinking while demand increases as the population gets older.

Writing in Scotland on Sunday, he said that while there would still be a need for donor organs, artificial kidneys would reduce demand as well as being safer and healthier.

He said: "This sort of approach may well, in time, provide an alternative to using deceased donors for transplantation. Using organs created from a patient's own stem cells is very appealing from a safety perspective.

"Transplanted organs are second-hand organs and carry the risk of transmitting infections and cancer. Although we try to reduce that risk to a minimum, we can't abolish it. When and if these new organs become available, they will be a safer option than using deceased donors.

"This approach will go a long way to help with the organ shortage when it becomes a cost-effective and effective option. There will always be a need for donated organs for some patients as making organs from patients' own stem cells will take time and some patients can't afford to wait."

Scientists believe it will take another ten years for the technology to advance to the stage where they are able to transplant laboratory-grown kidneys into live humans.

Researchers in the United States have already succeeded in transplanting foetal kidneys into animals and growing them to adult size.

As well as improving the quality of replacement organs, researchers say the procedure of freezing amniotic fluid cells and growing artificial kidneys would be much more cost effective than keeping patients on kidney dialysis.

http://news.stv.tv/health/242898-scottish-scientists-artificial-kidney-breakthrough-could-cut-donor-waiting-list/

[MooseMom]

Anything would be more cost effective than keeping people on dialysis, but I'm not sure that in this political climate, certain political groups are going to allow the government to invest in this sort of research. 

This research would be wonderful for future ESRD patients!  We all live in hope.

[Zach]

Those Great Scots!

First golf, now kidneys.

[okarol]

  Only 10 years to go! 

[greg10]

Scottish scientists' artificial kidney breakthrough 'could cut donor waiting list'
Researchers at Edinburgh University have successfully grown kidneys from stem cells, raising hopes they could be used in transplants...

Prof Jamie Davies
Professor of Experimental Anatomy
Centre for Integrative Physiology
Hugh Robson Building
George Square
Edinburgh, EH8 9XD
http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/integrative-physiology/staff-profiles/jamie-davies

"“At the moment we throw amniotic fluid away when babies are born. But if we kept it and froze down the stem cells of everybody born in the UK, there would be cells that could build kidneys waiting for them, frozen, in case they ever needed them.

“It wouldn’t be that expensive. It sounds a bit like science fiction-like, but actually it’s not. Freezing a few cells is cost-effective compared with the cost of keeping someone on dialysis for years,” Davies said"

[rsudock]

Do you think you would only qualify for a stem cell grown organ if your parent(s) were savvy enough to save your fluid? Is that what this article is saying??

Still is great for future generations! Maybe we can finally wipe out PKD that runs in families!

[DrMoskowitz]

To me this story illustrates just how badly off public health is.

In 2002, I published how to prevent 90% of dialysis (1). If it had gotten any press at the time, there would be plenty of cadaver kidneys now for the few remaining people with end-stage kidney disease. IHateDialysis wouldn't need to exist; everybody would get their new kidney within a few weeks.

Instead of useful information (2),  the press tells us these Tom Swift stories. We wait the decade or two until these con jobs, like gene therapy and stem cells before them, fizzle out. Meanwhile 100,000 more Americans go on dialysis every year, bringing in $100K/yr to the hospital and nephrologist who own them. The number of dialysis patients will only skyrocket with the Baby Boomers, assuming the current level of ignorance continues (2).

1. http://www.genomed.com/pdf/diabetes.technology.therapeutics.pdf
2. http://www.genomed.com/images/guyot_dec09nl.pdf