Let's Grow Some Veins

Stardate 4107.6

Reuters - Scientists have actually grown human blood vessels from cells taken from elderly patients. This groundbreaking technique could really help spur on new treatments for heart disease within the next decade, experts suggest.

The leading cause of death in developed countries is cardiovascular disease (40% inthe US) so something like this is a welcome breakthrough. This would allow doctor's to bypass clogged arteries in some patients.

“We took vascular cells from four elderly men with heart disease and engineered new blood vessels,” said Dr. Laura Niklason, of Duke University Medical Center, in Durham, N.C.

Another factor is te rejection when organs and the like are transplanted into people. If you use the person's own cells to grow their new vessels, there should be no problems with rejection.

Now these vessels were not actually tough enough for everyday use by a patient, but they have proven that the technique, with a little more work obviously, is a gooder...