A group of scientist from Texas grew human lungs inside a fish tank in an attempt to provide patients suffering from lung ailments a new option for treatment.
The researchers involved in the study used the donated lungs of two children who died due to an accident. Although both sets were severely damaged, they still contained healthy tissues. The researchers then used the tissues to retrieve the needed collagen and elastin, collecting cells from other lungs and then placing everything together in a liquid container.
"It's so darn cool. It's been science fiction and we're moving into science fact," Joan Nichols, a researcher at the University of Texas Medical Branch, told CNN.
Within just four weeks, Nichols and her team were surprised to find a new set of healthy lungs, with a second experiment yielding the same results.
Before finally trying it on humans, the researchers intend to test the new lungs grown inside a fish tank on pigs.
Aside from lungs, they are also creating other human organs, including a liver and tracheas, in the same laboratory. The researchers are hopeful that the lungs they created will work well on humans but believe that it will take them approximately 12 years to make this happen.
Nichols explained the process of growing human lungs, saying: "We removed all the cells and all the materials in it, and just left the skeleton of the lung, or the scaffold behind - the pieces of the lungs that are not cells. That's why it is so white and pretty and there's no blood in it, it's very pretty looking. And then we added back cells from another lung that couldn't be used for transplant but still had some viable cells in it."
