Science 33
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Science 33
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Scientists create‘ human liver’ from stem cells
SCIENTISTS in Japan said Wednesday they had grown human liver tissue from stem cells in a first that holds promise for alleviating the critical shortage of donor organs.
Creating lab-grown tissue to replenish organs damaged by accident or disease is a Holy Grail for the pioneering field of research into the premature cells known as stem cells.
Now Takanori Takebe of the Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine and a team report in the journal nature that they grew tissue“ resembling the( human) adult liver” in a lab mouse.
They first created induced pluripotent stem( iPS) cells which they mixed with other cell types and coaxed into“ liver buds” – the precursor clusters that develop into a liver.
The buds, each about 5 millimetres( 0.2 inches) big, were then transplanted onto a mouse brain, where they were observed transforming into a“ functional human liver” complete with blood vessels, the scientists wrote.
“ To our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating the generation of a functional human organ from pluripotent stem cells,” said the report.
The technique has yet to be tested in humans, but serves as an important proof of concept, it added.
Stem cells are infant cells that can develop into any part of the body.
Until a few years ago, when iPS cells were created, the only way to obtain stem cells was
EUROPEAN astronomers said on Friday they had devised a technique to detect water in the atmosphere of planets orbiting other stars.
Using a telescope in Chile, they teased out a telltale infrared signature from water in the atmosphere of a gassy planet called HD 189733b, which orbits its star every two days and is hot enough to melt steel.
The work is another technical breakthrough in the fast-moving field of exoplanet research, they said.
A total of 723 planets have been spotted outside our own Solar System since 1995, according to the website http:// exoplanets. org, while NASA( http:// planetquest. jpl. nasa. gov /) puts the tally at 879.
Several thousand findings by the specialist Kepler orbital telescope await confirmation.
So far, no exoplanet spotted has the potential to be a home away from home for us humans. to harvest them from human embryos.
This is controversial because it requires the destruction of the embryo, a process to which religious conservatives and others object. iPS cells are easilyobtainable mature cells that are“ reprogrammed” into a versatile, primitive state from where they can develop into any kind of cell in the body.
Mr. Takebe told a press conference ahead of the report’ s release that the man-made liver was observed through a replacement glass skull that was fitted around the mouse’ s brain.
New technique finetunes quest for life on other worlds
It would have to be a rocky planet, rather than a gas one, orbiting in a balmy zone which would enable water to exist in liquid form and thus nurture life as we know it.
The new technique should aid the search, as it can be used by big telescopes on the ground as well as more expensive ones in orbit, said Jayne Birkby who led a team from Leiden University in the Netherlands.
“ We knew our technique worked for simple molecules at shorter wavelengths, but in order to hunt for water, we had to go to longer wavelengths where the Earth’ s atmosphere really starts to obstruct the signals we are looking for, so we weren’ t sure we would find anything,” she said in a press release.
“ Of course we were delighted when we saw the signal jump out at us. It means we can do much more with this technique.”
Ms. Birkby presented the research at a meeting of Britain’ s
The liver developed blood vessels which fused with those of the animal.
It also performed certain human-specific liver functions producing proteins and processing specific drugs.
“ We have concluded that this liver is functioning,” the scientist said.“ We think this is enough for improving the survival after liver failure.”
Scientists commenting on the research described it as promising.
“ This science opens up the distinct possibility of being able to create mini-livers from the skin cells of a patient dying of liver failure,” said Malcolm
Royal Astronomical Society in Edinburgh, Scotland, the RAS said.
The team used an instrument called the cryogenic highresolution infrared echelle spectrograph, or CRIRES, mounted on the European Southern Observatory’ s Very Large Telescope in Chile’ s Atacama desert.
“ In the next decade our
Alison, professor of stem cell biology at the Queen Mary University of London.
“ Human mature liver cells transplanted on their own can fail to thrive, but if immature liver cells are first combined with their normally nurturing supportive cells, they can mature in the transplanted host and function efficiently,” he said in a statement issued by the Science Media Centre.
Dusko Ilic from Kings College London said“ the promise of an off-shelf liver seems much closer than one could hope even a year ago”, but the strategy has yet to be proven in humans.
“ Whilst the title of the paper is‘ functional human liver’, these liver buds do not contain the biliary structures( which drain toxins out of the liver) or immune cells that characterise real human liver,” added Stuart Forbes, professor of transplantation and regenerative medicine at the University of Edinburgh.
Chris Mason of University College London said the buds may be useful for drug testing in the lab, which is currently restricted by the limited availability of liver cells from human cadavers.
Mr. Takebe said the method may also work in organs like the pancreas, kidneys or lungs, but it would be another 10 years before trials are done in humans.
One key requirement would be to shrink the“ buds” to a much smaller size so they can be injected into the bloodstream and taken up by the body internally, he said. – AFP
This July 2, 2013 handout image shows a view of the galaxy pair MRK 1034 in the constellation of Triangulum( The Triangle). The two very similar galaxies, named PGC 9074 and PGC 9071, are close enough to one another to be bound together by gravity. Photo: AFP
work will help astronomers refine their search for Earth-like planets and even life in orbit around other stars,” said Ms. Birkby.
“ It’ s incredibly exciting to think that in my lifetime we will reach a day when we can point up to a star and say with confidence that it has a world just like our own.”
– AFP
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