The first laboratory for the creation and transplantation of artificial organs appeared in Russia. There are only 12 of these in the world, one of them is now at the Kuban Medical University. Modern equipment makes it possible to grow tissue for transplantation.
If earlier the patient would have to wait for a donor, and then fight with his own body due to the rejection of foreign tissues, now for such an operation there are enough cells of the patient himself.
Each flask in this small laboratory is a real bioreactor, in which scientists create new organs step by step. In one container is the heart of a white rat, next to it is its lung. Scientists call this process decontamination - there is a complete destruction of old cells of diseased organs. After a while, only a biological framework will remain of them.
Elena Gubareva, associate professor of the Kuban State Medical University: “After decontamination, this frame can be used for another organ of the animal. When we put cells of another animal on it, they will create another organ."
Of course, organ transplantation is no surprise today. Liver, kidney and heart are transplanted. But the main problem is rejection. The patient's body may not perceive a foreign organ, so a person has to take special drugs all his life. The possibility of growing organs in a flask can completely eliminate this problem - after all, only the cells of the patient himself are involved in the process.
Paolo Macchiarini, professor of regenerative medicine at the Karolinska University in Sweden: “This project is being implemented in the framework of cooperation between Karolinska University and Krasnodar. This is a huge step forward in regenerative medicine. This equipment is even better than the one at the University in Stockholm."
Today there are only 12 laboratories with such equipment in the world, with 10 in the United States and only two in Europe. One is located at the Karolinska University in Sweden, the second has now appeared in Russia, within the walls of the Kuban State Medical University.
Thanks to such equipment, the world has learned to recreate donor organs on an artificial basis already for a person, for example, the trachea. The patient's cells are transplanted onto a nanopolymer scaffold. Several successful operations have already been performed in Krasnodar clinics.
Promotional video:
Two years ago, Alexander Zazul was hit by a car, he spent 18 days in a coma. There were several operations, instead of the trachea - a special tube. More than a year of waiting for a transplant, surgery - and after 9 months only a small scar and a hoarse voice remind of the injury.
Alexander Zazulya, a resident of the Krasnodar Territory: “I feel good now. The last time I saw a doctor was two months ago. They said everything is fine. Are there any restrictions? No. No restrictions."
Scientists hope that thanks to these studies, the creation of organs such as the human heart or lungs will not be something fantastic and beyond. Here they believe that this is the near future.