Tag Archives: King’s College London

Health, Medical, Research, Science

Liver grown in the laboratory raises real hope…

AN ALTERNATIVE TO TRANSPLANTS

Scientists have grown a tiny liver in experiments which has been hailed as ‘a huge step forward’ for desperately ill patients waiting for a transplant.

The technique that creates man-made tissue could be used to repair diseased and damaged organs – and one day end the agonising and sometimes hopeless wait for a donor.

These advances could also be used to test new medicines, ending the need for risky tests on humans, and to grow tissue for new kidneys, lungs and pancreases.

British scientists have welcomed the research in Japan as holding out ‘promise’ for an alternative to transplants.

More than 7,000 Britons are on the waiting list, including 154 children. Most need kidneys but nearly 500 need a liver and around 250 are waiting for healthy lungs.

Researchers used the three types of cell which generate the liver in a human embryo to grow a tiny piece of tissue in a dish.

It was grafted on to a mouse’s brain, where it linked up to the blood supply and could be monitored as it grew for at least two months. The tissue had many features of a human liver, including the ability to break down drugs.

It also extended the life of rodents with fatal liver disease. The findings were reported in the journal Nature.

Researcher Takanori Takebe said growing patches of liver holds ‘enormous therapeutic potential’.

Dr Dusko Ilic, a stem cell scientist from King’s College London, said: ‘The strategy is very promising and a huge step forward.’

Dr Mathew Smalley, of Cardiff University, said the technique may not be suitable for all transplant patients but still had ‘real promise’.

NHS Blood and Transplant, which is responsible for running the organ donor register, said the research was ‘very exciting’.

But it could take many years to offer ‘widespread, readily-available treatment’, the NHS body said. In the meantime, more organ donors are still needed to cut the number of patients who die waiting for a transplant.

It is hoped the first tests on people could start in a decade.

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Biotechnology, Health, Science

Research suggests GM diet ‘can lead to disease in pigs’…

GM crops could give pigs diseases, after scientists claimed those fed the so-called Frankenstein food had inflamed stomachs and heavier uteruses.

The research is significant because the digestive system and organs of pigs are similar to those of humans, who eat the pork from the animals.

A group of Britain’s biggest supermarkets recently ended a ban on the feeding of GM crops to pigs and other animals on farms in the UK.

Meat, milk and eggs from these animals are not labelled as having come from animals fed on GM crops.

The latest study will embarrass the Government, which supports GM crops and food, based on assurances that they have been proven safe for humans and the environment.

However, the research suggests this cannot be taken for granted.

The study was led by Dr Judy Carman, associate professor in health and the environment at Flinders University, Australia.

She said GM-fed female pigs had on average a 25 per cent heavier uterus than non-GM-fed females, which is a possible indicator of disease.

Also, severe inflammation in stomachs was markedly higher in pigs on a GM diet. Referring to the results as ‘striking’, Dr Carman added:

… We found these results in farm conditions, not in a laboratory, but with the benefit of strict scientific controls. We need to investigate if people are also getting digestive problems from eating GM crops.

The trial involved 168 newly-weaned pigs fed either GM soya and corn, or an equivalent non-GM diet.

But Professor Tom Sanders of Kings College, London, said that there were no differences in growth and mortality rates and pigs appeared in similar health. Cambridge Professor, David Spiegelhalter, has also said that the ‘conclusions don’t stand up to statistical scrutiny.’

The Biotechnology Industry Organisation said that this study was authored by ‘anti-biotech campaigners’. It added that hundreds of independent studies found no difference between animals fed GM or non-GM diets.

Owen Paterson MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, claims opposition to GM food should be cast aside in the interests of the economy and our ability to feed the world. Mr Paterson has dismissed scepticism of GM as ‘complete nonsense’.

A statement issued by Mr Paterson’s department said:

… The world’s population is set to hit nine billion by 2050, and we must increase food production, minimise waste and boost competition. We must not ignore technologies, including GM, that can meet the challenge.  

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