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Patients receive tailor-made urethras grown in a lab from their own cells
By Darren Quick
21:49 March 8, 2011
In a move that augurs well for the engineering of replacement tissues and organs, researchers have reported the world's first successful implantation of urinary tubes grown in the laboratory using the patients' own cells. Between March 2004 and July 2007, the research team from the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and colleagues engineered urinary tubes, or urethras, for five boys aged 10 to 14 using cells from the boys' own bladders to replace damaged segments. Tests showed the engineered tissue remained functional throughout the median six-year follow-up period. Read More
No-one should ever drink and drive, but there may soon be a good reason to drink a lot before you fill up your car – researchers at Ohio University have worked out a way to efficiently extract hydrogen from urine. It could provide a cheap, renewable fuel source for vehicles and, finally, a good use for the most abundant waste on Earth. Read More
