We all know someone who has needed a transplant or has had cancer. Have you ever wondered how that works? As a kid I use to think that you just went to the store and bought a new heart or lungs. I quickly learned that was not the case. Your body is a very complex machine. The organs are build out of cells, molecules, and much more. Your body is made up of thousands of molecules that all work together. We all know with your body there always comes a point where you have an illness. Sometimes people are born with illnesses such as a hole in the heart or some other problem. They may need a transplant right then or in the future. You are put on a big long waiting list for a new organ or part. Getting the transplant is not always easy. Sometimes your body can reject the organ and the organ may not function right anyways since its not your own. Now scientist have created a way to make organs! That's right they can make organs. So far the only people that have received organs are not currently in the United States. The transplants were successful though. But not only can they make organs they can make other body parts too. They had a man who had a tumor in his trachea and was on the verge of death. He received a new trachea and is still living today. This whole thing started when they made ears for men who had come back from war from a bad accident. If they needed an ear they could get an ear. The scientist thought that if they could made simple things like this than there must be a way they can make organs. They thought that everything in the body must have a simple skeletal structure. They were right, each organ has its own structure. As soon and they create the structure they then inject it with your own blood cells. This is why this new science will be easy to use in bodies because it your own cells and it will be hard for the body to reject the new organ.
I thought this article was very fascinating. They fact that scientist are now building organs and are soon being able to transfer them into human bodies is astounding to me, the body is mad up complex molecules and cells and scientist can make that and inject your own DNA into it is amazing. My opinion on this is proud because now that means people can get transplants faster and it will be easier for their bodies to accept them so they can live longer. The significance of this is this is going to eventually keep people alive. Let's say someone has cancer in there liver and it's bad to the point they may die or they need a fast liver transplant. Liver transplants take a long time because you have to be on a waiting list and that person may not get the liver in the time they need it. Whit this new science they could have a new liver within weeks and it would have there own cells in the liver making this cancer patient cancer free. I think that scientist are on the verge and are currently on the path to a medical miracle for the whole world.
Fountain, Henry. "BODY BUILDERS; A First: Organs Tailor-Made With Body's Own Cells." The New York Times. The New York Times, 15 Sept. 2012. Web. 02 Apr. 2013.
This is really cool! I think that making hearts and things for people from scratch that actually work on their own is awesome. I really liked the examples of the ears and the trachea. I hope this comes to the US soon. My aunt once had a problem with her bones. Her bones weren't making enough blood. She was always sick and tired, and had to go through loads of treatments. She eventually overcame her problem, but what if scientists used this same idea, but to make bones? She could have been over it much faster if that was the case. Hopefully in a few decades we will completely shift to this method and stop using other people's real organs. Cool post!
ReplyDeleteThis post was very informative. It's good to know all of that information.great post.
ReplyDeleteThis is really really cool. I used to think the same thing when I was young when I heard about transplants. Science has come a long way and now that we're able to do this kind of stuff just think of what we'll be able to do 10 years from now. All in all, great post and keep up the good work.
ReplyDelete