Scientists have made incredible progress in regenerative medicine by successfully creating human lungs in a lab for the first time ever. Although it is an amazing achievement the engineered lungs won’t reach patients for years.
This is a crucial discovery seeing as there are currently more than 1,600 people in need of a lung transplant. According to CNN Joan Nichols, a researcher at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), said, “It's so darn cool. It's been science fiction and we're moving into science fact."
The team at UTMB used the lungs from two children that had died. The lungs were too damaged to be used for transplanting but they did retain some healthy tissue. Scientists stripped away most of one lung and added cells to it from another lung. The lung was then placed in a tank full of nutrient-rich liquid for four weeks.
According to alphakick the lungs look very much like the real thing, but researchers believe it will be another twelve years before the lungs are ready for a transplant.