Friday, October 31, 2014

Miniature Stomachs Made From Stem Cells

Scientists have been able to create hollow miniature stomachs. The mini-stomachs are grown in petri dishes from stem cells and have an interior lining that is folded into glands and pits like a real stomach. Scientists have created these miniature stomachs because they want to study gastric diseases such as ulcers and stomach cancer. Researchers found that the miniature stomachs, known as gastric organoids, respond to infection similar to ordinary human stomachs, whereas the stomach of animals do not.

It is important to study diseases in the stomach because of the bacterium H. Pylori. "Half of the world's population is infected with the bug, which can be picked up from food. Although most people do not show symptoms, once the infection is present up to 20% of carriers will develop gastric ulcers during their lifetimes. Around 2% will develop stomach cancer" (Source 1). Now, scientists can study the effect the bacteria has on the stomach to a greater extent, and will learn how to create tissue to repair patients' stomachs. To learn more about this topic, go to the source provided below.

Source 1: http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/oct/29/scientists-grow-miniature-stomachs-stem-cells
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3 comments:

  1. Max VOctober 31, 2014 at 11:33 PM

    If this is possible stomachs can this science be applied to other body parts? If so is this technology patent able?

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  2. UnknownNovember 2, 2014 at 5:32 PM

    Can you imagine one day that if you have a problem with an organ, you may get a transplant from an artificial one. Lab grown organs are starting to get rather popular. Last time I checked, people were making skin and other interesting things.

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    Replies
    1. AllenNovember 15, 2014 at 7:27 PM

      It is certainly a growing field, and one that has a lot of possibilities going forward in the future.

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