In the US, an artificial heart
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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At the Public Research University of California, experts have grown the heart of a person in a laboratory.
According to experts, at first they applied nutrient medium and cardiac cells to the bottom of a special cup, then they were covered with pluripotent stem cells taken from the skin of an adult person, then experts added signal proteins. The scientists noted that the base of the heart was at the stage of formation about two weeks, after which the process of development of the heart chambers began (it is reported that it is at this stage that one can observe any pathologies). As a result, the researchers formed a fully functioning human heart, however, much smaller.
The human heart is made up of various tissues and cells, thanks to the application of the latest technology and stem cells, scientists have managed not only to grow, but also to form a fully functioning small heart in the right order. At its core, the process that scientists recreated in the laboratory occurs at the stage of embryo formation in the mother's body.
One of the specialists participating in the project noted that today such artificially grown organs are difficult to use for human transplantation, but they are quite suitable for testing new drugs that can be dangerous not only to health but also to people's lives. For example, the hypnotic Thalidomide, which at one time led to the disability and even death of ten thousand newborns. In the middle of the last century, this drug was actively prescribed by gynecologists to pregnant women who suffered from mild insomnia.
Recently, this drug was tested on an artificially grown heart and the scientists found that Thalidomide had a negative effect on the heart tissue.
Perhaps, thanks to the appearance of such artificial organs, specialists will be able to conduct testing of new drugs, which will avoid a lot of deaths and disability.
Experts plan to continue work in this direction and want to study in more detail the capabilities of the technology developed by them.
It is worth noting that a small human heart was not the first artificial organ that scientists grew up. Recently, the rodent limb has been grown in the laboratory, which, according to experts, can be fully used for transplantation, but while this will become possible, a number of studies will be required.
Several years ago, researchers from Japan already used technology with stem cells and raised a human heart in the laboratory. At that time, the scientific group was headed by Konstantin Agladze, the processor of the Moscow Physicotechnical Institute.
The research project was held in Kyoto, in one of the national universities in Japan. The heart turned out so small that you can see it only under a microscope, but despite this, scientists conducted on the test organ of new drugs. In addition to the heart, Japanese genetics have also been able to grow teeth that can hardly be distinguished from the real ones. In this case, also using technology with stem cells, while the teeth grow directly in the mouth of the patient.
Almost all experts agree that the future of transplantation in stem cells, grown from such cells, organs are ideal for transplantation.
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