This year has seen incredible advancements in the field of heart transplants and stem cell science.\u00a0After years of research, a group of scientists in Tel Aviv has successfully used 3D printing and stem cells to create a functional human heart.<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Daily Mail intro” _builder_version=”3.17.2″]\n
Their research represents a breakthrough in organ transplantation and could one day give thousands of people around the world the chance of receiving a healthy heart.<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”3_5″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Success Stories” _builder_version=”3.17.2″]\n
The study involved printing a 3D vascularised engineered heart using stem cells.<\/p>\n
Incredibly, the finished heart matched the immunological, cellular, biochemical and anatomical properties of the patient. In short, it was a bespoke organ designed for a specific patient, with little risk of rejection compared with a normal transplant.<\/p>\n
The study involved taking a biopsy of fatty tissue from the patients. Scientists then separated cellular materials from this sample.<\/p>\n
The cells were reprogrammed to become pluripotent stem cells, then mixed with collagen and glycoproteins to make a \u2018personalised hydrogel\u2019 that would serve as the 3D printer\u2019s \u201cink\u201d.<\/p>\n
The cells were then differentiated into cardiac cells in order to make patient-specific, immune-compatible cardiac patches with functional blood vessels.<\/p>\n
Next, the team will be working to make the hearts successfully pump by ensuring they work together as one. It is hoped that within ten years, there will be organ printers around the world to enable everyday organ transplants.<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_5″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Intro” _builder_version=”3.17.2″ background_color=”#009fc4″ text_font=”|300|||||||” background_layout=”dark” custom_padding=”20px|20px|20px|20px”]\n
In Massachusetts, researchers have also managed to create a beating heart with stem cells.<\/p>\n
The study involved using 73 donor hearts that had been deemed unfit for transplant to create new hearts.<\/p>\n
Firstly, scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital took skin cells from their patients and reprogrammed them to become pluripotent stem cells. These cells were then encouraged to develop into cardiac cells.<\/p>\n
After this, researchers stripped cells away from the donated hearts and replaced them with the transformed cells.<\/p>\n
They mimicked the environment that a human heart grows in before infusing the cardiac cells with a nutrient solution that encouraged them to grow.<\/p>\n
Just two weeks later, the team shocked the hearts with electricity, and the hearts started to beat. Further analysis also showed they had successfully formed well-structured and functional tissue.<\/p>\n
Now that the team have made beating hearts using stem cells, the next step is grow an entire heart for transplant.<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”References” _builder_version=”3.17.2″ background_color=”#eeeeee” custom_padding=”20px|20px|0px|20px”]\n