A research team has found a way to grow human intestines, reports a letter published in the journal Nature Medicine.  The intestines were grown in vitro from stem cells and then grafted in a live organism to grow and cultivate.  If these stem cells could be turned into the specific cell type needed, the possibilities for medical procedures are endless.

According to the Daily Mail, this breakthrough uses induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs).  Genetically altered adult skin cells are reverted back to an immature embryonic state, creating iPSCs.  The researchers take the iPSCs and grow tissue fragments in a lab.  These fragments are organoids, or buds of the desired organs.  Then, the buds were transplanted into mice and each animal produced significant amounts of human intestines.  More importantly, these human intestines were full functional.

For now, scientists hope to use these tissues to better understand what causes intestinal damage and how to repair it.  They also foresee using tissues grown in a lab to replace damaged intestines in patients.  In the long term, scientists hope that they will be able to use a patient’s own cells to grow organs for those needing life-saving transplants.

The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network estimates that, at this time, 123,855 people need organ transplants to save their lives.  In contrast, there are only 8,279 organ donors and it is not possible to predict when organs will become available.  This year, 16,884 organ transplants were performed, which is a mere fraction of those needing these treatments to stay alive.  Scientific breakthroughs that may make it possible to grow organs instead of harvesting them from someone else could literally mean the difference between life and death for thousands.