Bioengineering: Growing Organs on Scaffolding

Tissue Engineering is something that scientists have been dreaming of for years --but just in the last few days a n announcement that bladders engineered in the laboratory from patients' own cells and then implanted into the body have succeeded in their first clinical trial.

To create the new bladders, the researchers took a biopsy from patients whose bladders functioned poorly due to an inherited nervous system disorder. The team then placed muscle cells and cells from the bladder lining on a biodegradable bladder-shaped scaffold and allowed them to grow for about two months.

Scientists are also working on growing bio-engineered hearts and pancreases in the lab. In addition, an artificial womb is being tested at Cornell.