One key is getting rid of the donor's pesky cells, leaving the some critical structures behind.
A group of rats in New Haven, Connecticut, have offered living, breathing proof that scientists are learning how to grow replacements for vital organs. Earlier this year, researchers at Yale University removed the animals’ left lungs, swapping them out for new ones crafted in the lab. Although the rats survived no more than two hours, that was long enough to prove that an engineered lung could exchange gas and keep an animal alive. In a separate project, rats at Massachusetts General Hospital received cultivated livers and survived for up to eight hours before the transplant was removed.
How to Grow a New Lung | DiscoverMagazine.com
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