Scientists have made a sensational breakthrough in the field of medicine. For the first time in laboratory conditions, specialists managed to revive the paw of a dead rat. The limb of the deceased rodent was transplanted to a living one, the vessels and capillaries started working, the paw was instantly filled with blood, and the new owner of the limb was immediately able to bend it. This event can become a "bridge" to true immortality! What miracles await us in the 21st century? Could a new discovery be the key to a person's resurrection?
Biotechnologists from the United States have tested a technique that allowed them to grow a rat's leg in a special bioreactor. Scientists managed to completely recreate the limb of the animal with all the bones, cartilage, blood vessels, ligaments and muscles.
The most promising aspect of these operations is that the patient's own stem cells will be used for cultivation (this will reduce the likelihood of rejection of a new organ during transplantation tenfold).
A scene from the movie Frankenstein 1931.
To test the performance of a rat's leg, the scientists connected electrodes to the muscles. All fingers and joints moved and the animal was even able to independently move the newly acquired paw. The strength of the limb after a few days was the same as that of a newborn rodent.
By the way, in order to grow a rat's leg it took only 2 weeks, in the case of a human it will take much more time. The only way the new limb will differ from the native one is that it will not have nerve endings. In other matters, this problem can be solved on its own, even when transplanting someone else's hands and feet, nerves often grow from the stump into the implanted organ, if this does not happen, neurosurgeons will take over.
The bioreactor has already created artificial lungs, hearts and livers of animals.
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Despite the success, scientists believe that it will take at least decades before they can transplant a grown arm or leg into a human.