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Scientists to Grow a Human Heart Scientists from Britain, America, Canada and Switzerland say advances in the past five years have made possible the growth of living human organs in a laboratory, and they are planning to grow the first human heart outside the body. By Steve Farrar, Sunday Times (London) Start Date: 11/11/98 Scientists are planning to grow the first human heart outside the body. An international team of experts proposes to construct the living organ within a synthetic mould. The scientists from Britain, America, Canada and Switzerland say advances in the past five years have made possible the growth of living human organs in a laboratory. They aim to raise £6 billion, primarily from governments, which they hope to persuade of the importance of the project. If successful, it could end the acute shortage of donor hearts and lengthen many people's life expectancy. The out-of-body techniques overcome one of the biggest drawbacks of transplantation by growing heart tissue taken from a potential recipient. At present, to prevent organ rejection, patients have to take immunosuppressant drugs for the rest of their lives. The team includes scientists who have pioneered the growth of human skin, cartilage, bone and muscle in the laboratory as well as researchers involved in grafting an artificially grown human ear onto a mouse's back. "It is one of the most important scientific investigations of our time," said David Williams, a leading member of the group and professor of clinical engineering at Liverpool University. "We're moving from being able to produce little bits of skin or cartilage to whole, functioning organs." The initial funding for the project, entitled Living Implants From Engineering (LIFE), will come from trusts and industry. The scientists believe it will take 10 years before the first patient receives a heart through the technique. They propose to grow living tissue from the patient's own cells in foam templates. These will be dissolved and the pieces assembled into a fully functioning heart. "We're galvanising the best laboratories in the world to take on this massive challenge," said John Davies, a Welsh bioengineer at Toronto University. Last week his team became the first to synthesise a three-dimensional bone structure in the laboratory. Michael Sefton, a Toronto University bioengineer who is also behind the project, said: "We intend to create the ability to grow hearts, as well as other organs such as livers and kidneys, so that when a patient goes to a transplant surgeon there's no longer any wait for a donor organ. They'll be able to take one off the shelf as easily as one changes a carburettor." About 150,000 people die every year of heart disease. In the first six months of this year, 295 patients joined the waiting list for a new heart but there were only 131 transplants. The announcement was welcomed by the British Heart Foundation. "Twenty years ago, nobody would have anticipated the work that's going on developing mechanical hearts and genetically modified animals for transplantation," said Paul Fawcett, of the foundation. [Disclaimer: This article is copyright (c) 1998 Times Newspapers Ltd. The information contained in this report may not be republished, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without prior written permission from Times Newspapers Ltd. This text is posted in the public interest.]
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