By Mae Grewal Writer It’s now officially possible to grow a rat arm. Let that sink in for a moment: science and technology have progressed far enough that there is a way to induce cells to grow into the infinitesimally intricate, fully functioning, dismembered limb of a rodent. The project was undertaken by Harold Ott at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and makes use of a process called decel-recel. In the decellularization step, the limb of a dead donor is treated with chemicals that strip away soft tissue, but leave the inert architectural protein matrix intact. This preserves the vastly complex structure of bones, blood vessels, muscles, and tendons that make up a functioning limb. Then, in recellularization, this scaffold is seeded with the appropriate cells from the eventual recipient of the biolimb. Because the new limb only contains cells from the recipient and not from a foreign source, the limb is much less likely to be rejected by the recipient.. Once Ott and his team grew the muscles of the new limb, they tested whether these muscles actually worked by electrically stimulating them. They found they could make the biolimb clench and unclench its paw, demonstrating successful muscle function. Furthermore, they tested the circulatory system by attaching biolimbs to anesthetized rats and observing whether or not the blood flowed adequately through the new vessels. This groundbreaking research puts medicine one step closer to providing amputees with another—possibly better—option in terms of regaining some of the functions of their lost limb. Current options include advanced prosthetics that allow for almost full range of motion but little to no sensory reception, and hand transplants, which run the risk of being rejected. If regrowing limbs from the amputees’ own cells proves viable, then having to choose between no touch or possible infection will become a thing of the past. Of course, there is still a ways to go in developing this technology for human use. The hand is one of the most complex parts of the body with its sensory and motor nerves and 1-cell-thick network of capillaries. While decel-recel regeneration has seen varying degrees of success with other organs such as the lungs, voice box, and kidneys, the increased complexity of the hand creates new challenges that need to be overcome. Most significantly, it remains to be seen whether a recipient’s nervous system will be able to grow into their new limb, and whether the new tiny capillaries will be able to maintain their structure to allow for blood flow without collapsing and creating clots. Ott himself says that it will be at least a decade before the first biolimbs are ready for human tests, but he, and many others, remain hopeful that technology will continue to progress to this eventual goal. In ten years, who knows? Forget rats, we could be growing human limbs in mass production for the benefit of trauma victims everywhere.
2 Comments
4/19/2017 12:24:15 pm
This is an awesome research in the world of technology and science.The science and technology has made the world very progressive in the world. Many developments in the field of biology has been made during the past era. This informative article give a look over that era.
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AuthorsThe authors of these blog posts are staff writers of The Triple Helix at Georgetown University. Archives
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