Kidney and Pancreas grown in laboratory mice in Tokyo

There is a hope for millions of those who suffer from disease related to kidney as Researchers at the University of Tokyo have claimed that they have been successful in generating Kidneys and Pancreas in laboratory mice after injecting embryonic stem cells from healthy mice into fertilised eggs.

The researchers revealed that the embryonic stem cells from healthy mice were injected in the mice which were genetically engineered in a way that it could not grow kidneys and pancreas.

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After 3 days the egg was implanted into other mice.

The newborns were observed for the organs and were confirmed to have grown the organs from embryonic stem cells and functioned normally.

Prof Hiromitsu Nakauchi, lead researcher said, “We have made a step forward in realising a technique to produce human organs inside the bodies of domestic animals but we need to clear safety and ethics issues from now on.”

This research for sure has yielded hope for many as many lives will be saved if the same result is replicated in human being. Researchers are planning to test the same method on monkeys and pigs to ensure its safety.

Previously cardiac muscles as well as nerve cell have been produced by using similar method successfully. Interestingly scientists involved in the research said that the mice used in the research have not developed any kind of cancer, which is usually found in such research involving embryonic stem cells.

Kidney related diseases have been increased at a great pace and people die due to unavailability of donors, this research is commendable even though in experimental stage.

Yesterday, World Kidney Day was celebrated in more than 80 countries and across the 6 continents. It is an initiative of the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) and the International Federation of Kidney Foundations (IFKF) and is held every second Thursday in March.

The day marked to create awareness among the people related to Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), which is common, harmful and treatable. The disease related to kidney has been increased to an alarming rate and numbers of people die due to kidney failure.

Reportedly 10 percent of the world populations suffer from CKD and is generally an outcome of our lifestyle. Doctors around the world suggest people with certain symptoms to go for regular medical checkups. They emphasised on getting creatinine level accessed. Increase in creatinine level in our body indicates malfunctioning of kidney.