Rat's lung successfully regrown in laboratory

New York: A rat's lung has been regrown in a laboratory, taking doctors a step closer to producing human organs on demand.

It was successfully transplanted and US scientists watched it breathe for a few hours, they said on Thursday.

The procedure could improve survival rates for lung disease patients and mean drugs to stop transplant organs being rejected are no longer needed.

It will also allow the use of thousands of donated organs which go to waste each year because they are damaged or too old.

The team from Yale University stripped down an adult rat's lung to its scaffolding, or basic support system.

They then put the organ into an incubator-style container which mimicked the conditions in which it would operate.

Over two hours, they watched as it took in oxygen and exhaled carbon dioxide as normal.

Durable

Although problems later emerged, the scientists said they had enough time to recognise how to make future efforts more durable.

The research means that human organs can one day be regrown whenever they are needed by sick patients although this may take up to 25 years while necessary stem cell science evolves.

Such a prospect has been until now the stuff of science fiction or the extremes of nature.

Animals such as planarian worms can re-grow old or damaged body parts, while salamanders regenerate legs and several lizards can produce tails.

One person in seven about eight million people is affected by lung disease in the UK.

Respiratory conditions are the second biggest killer worldwide, behind cardiovascular problems.