MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine<\/p>\n
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Scientists have for the first time grown a complex, fully functional organ from scratch in a living animal by transplanting cells that were originally created in a laboratory. The advance could in future aid the development of \u2018lab-grown\u2019 replacement organs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Researchers from the MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, at the University of Edinburgh, took cells called fibroblasts from a mouse embryo and converted them directly into a completely unrelated type of cell \u2014 specialised thymus cells \u2014 using a technique called \u2018reprogramming\u2019. When mixed with other thymus cell types and transplanted into mice, these cells formed a replacement organ that had the same structure, complexity and function as a healthy native adult thymus. The reprogrammed cells were also capable of producing T cells \u2014 a type of white blood cell important for fighting infection \u2014 in the lab.<\/p>\n