Researchers at Advanced Cell Technology and Children’s Hospital in Boston this week announced they had for the first time managed to use therapeutic cloning to produce working tissues that were successfully implanted in cows.
In the experiment, researchers used cells from an adult cow to create a cloned embryos. The embryos was then implanted in a host cow where it grew for several weeks before researchers harvested stem cells from the cloned embryos (this is a step that would be unnecessary in human beings, since human stem cells can be grown in the lab, while no one has yet figured out how to grow cow stem cells in the lab).
The stem cells were then placed on scaffolds in a laboratory which caused them to grow into a few dozen miniature kidneys and patches of heart tissues. The miniature kidneys and heart tissue were then transplanted back into the cows that the adult cells were taken from.
The result was that the implants were not rejected by the cows’ immune system, since the implants were genetically identical to the cows’ existing tissues, and the tissues and organ functioned properly. The heart tissue grew onto the heart, and the miniature kidneys functioned properly including producing a urine-like fluid.
“This study is proof of principle that therapeutic cloning can be used to create tissues without any threat of reaction,” Dr. Anthony Atala of Children’s Hospital told The Boston Globe.
“These results bode well for the future of human therapeutic cloning,” Robert Lanza of Advanced Cell Technology told The Scotsman. “Cloning could theoretically provide a limitless supply of cells and organs for any type of regenerative therapy.
Sources:
Researchers implant cloned cow tissues. Raja Mishra, Boston Globe, June 3, 2002.
Cloned embryo success for US scientists. Tara Womersley, The Scotsman, June 3, 2002.
Researchers say therapeutic cloning experiments show promise in cows. Paul Elias, Associated Press, June 2, 2002.