Britain continues to expand 'remarkable human body parts store'

Britain is continuing to expand its remarkable human body parts store, with researchers from University College London (UCL) growing an ear in a laboratory.

Professor Alexander Seifalian led the researchers from UCL's Department of Nanotechnology and Regenerative Medicine, which he jokingly calls the ‘human body parts store’. The researchers are also in the process of growing a human nose in a Petri dish, which would be the first time anyone has managed to produce one.

Adelola Oseni, one of Dr Seifalian’s team told the Daily Mail: "Other groups have tried to tackle nose replacement with implants but we’ve found they don’t last.

"They migrate, the shape of the nose changes. But our one will hold itself completely, as it’s an entire nose shape made out of polymer."

When the nose gets transferred into the patient it gets placed inside a balloon inserted beneath the skin on their arm. The skin and blood vessels are allowed to grow for a month in the balloon, where it can be monitored before transplanting it onto the face.

These developments could signal a new system in which organs and body parts are made to order using a patients own cells. Rather than waiting for donors or complex reconstruction, the transplant would be a matter of a quick swap, and the risk of rejection should, in theory, be eliminated.

The new process grew out of controversial stem-cell research, but rather than use embryonic stem cells, the scientists now create the cells they need from bone marrow cells taken from the patient. These techniques are being transferred to deal with vital organs, and could save thousands of lives in the future.

Dr Seifalian said: "If we can grow a heart, a lung or a trachea in a lab, we don’t need to wait for donors.

"This work has massive implications for the way we function as clinicians and the way medicine is practised."

Posted by Fiona Griffiths