Los Angeles - Scientists are taking the first steps to see if organs - such as a heart or a liver - can be grown inside the human body using a new tissue-replacement technique, a bioengineering company said yesterday.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Children's Hospital of Boston were granted three patents yesterday covering the growth of new organs and tissue within the body. The patents are licensed to Advanced Tissue Sciences Inc., based in La Jolla, California, which owns related patents.
The company said the technology already has been used to grow new livers in rats and dogs and also to generate new heart muscles in animals with diseased hearts.
Dr Gail Naughton, president of Advanced Tissue, said the technique could eventually be used in humans, helping to alleviate the chronic shortage of organs available for transplant patients.