matters of the heart may altogether take a different turn with the possibility of the human heart being manufactured in the laboratory. Gail Naughton, president of Advanced Tissue Sciences ( ats ), the us biotech company, believes that she will soon be able to grow a human heart inside a box in her laboratory at La Jolla, California.
The ats ' technique, co-invented and patented by Naughton, uses chemical "scaffolds" to shape growing human tissues. A few cells are placed on the scaffold and fed with nutrients. The key to growing durable organs is to recreate conditions in the human body, says Naughton.
The company, which already sells artificially manufactured human skin, recently announced that it had grown a human finger joint from a few cells. It has also managed to grow heart valves, heart muscles and blood vessels.When ats scientists grow a ligament, they stretch it to make it strong. Toughness is added by putting the cartilage under pressure, while the arteries pulsate in their boxes as they grow, says Naughton.
The main hurdle in the growing of the human heart is the difficulty of regenerating nerve tissue. In this case, the researchers are considering the use of microchips as an alternative. Robert Langer, a researcher at the Massa-chusetts Institute of Technology, says that most of the technology needed to create a bio-engineered hand or arm is already in place. Langer has raised the prospect - in 20 or 30 years time - of an 'artificial womb' which would sustain premature babies for several weeks.
The ats started with skin and joints because there are fewer problems with tissue rejection. The company's first production, Dermagraft, has not yet been approved for sale in the us but has gone on sale in the uk. Dermagraft will be used for the treatment of diabetics' foot ulcers. Normally, tissue can be taken from a patient, grown in the lab and replanted. But this is time-taking. Hence, the ats hopes to supply off-the-peg tissue and organs for fast treatment.
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