China Demonstrates the First-Ever Transplant Using a Patient’s Own Body Cells

Scientists have long been working to create artificial limbs and organs. However, the biggest challenge is that the body often does not accept these artificial parts properly. As a result, various complications can arise after attaching artificial organs. That’s why researchers are now trying to develop organs for a patient using their own body cells. The hopeful news is that there have been significant successes in laboratories with this approach. In 1990, scientists stunned the world by growing a human ear on a mouse’s body. This gave hope for a new era in medical science. This field of science is known as regenerative medicine. However, that technology had never been directly applied to humans.

Recently, China set a new precedent by successfully transplanting ears for five children using this method. Since these were made from the patient’s own DNA and cells, their bodies accepted the organs well without causing any problems. Guangdong Zhou and his colleagues at Jiao Tong University in Shanghai led this work, which was published in the scientific journal ebiomedicine.

This marks the beginning of a new era in medicine. Scientists are now working not only on ears but are also setting their sights on the transplantation of other vital organs.

Image: The ear transplant process

Sources:
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2159626-children-get-new-ears-grown-from-their-own-cells-in-world-first/
http://www.ebiomedicine.com/article/S2352-3964(18)30016-1/fulltext