Scientists transplant lab-grown lungs to pigs, human might be next

Scarcity of lung donors for patients waiting for transplants might soon be eradicated as researchers have successfully transplanted lab-grown lungs into pigs.

Researchers from University of Texas Medical Branch detailed their latest achievement by transplanting lab-grown lungs into pigs, bringing them a step closer to create these bioengineers lungs for humans.

As explained in their paper published in the journal Science Translational Medical, the researchers first made four lung scaffolds by removing all of the cells and blood from four pig lungs via a mix of sugar and detergent. The end result was proteins of each lung, apparently its skeleton.

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Researchers then placed each scaffold in a tank containing special mix of nutrients. Cells from the recipient pigs’ own lungs were then added to each of the scaffolds and let the lungs grow for 30 days. Finally, the four bioengineered lungs were transplanted into four recipient pigs, explained Futurism.

Just in two weeks, the transplanted lungs successfully began providing oxygen to their blood and to establish the healthy networks of blood vessels needed to survive. After observing for two months of post-transplant, no signs were detected of the animals’ immune systems rejecting the new lungs or any other complication, wrote Quartz.

The researchers though still want to study the long-term feasibility of the organs, but if everything goes perfectly, they believe that within five to 10 years, they can create lag-grown lungs for people, eradicating the need for waiting in lists for lung donors or other organ shortages.