From the BBC News:
A 10-year-old British boy has become the first child to undergo a windpipe transplant with an organ crafted from his own stem cells.
It is hoped that using the boy's own tissue in the nine-hour operation at Great Ormond Street Hospital will cut the risk of rejection.
The world's first tissue-engineered windpipe transplant was done in Spain in 2008 but with a shorter graft.
Doctors say the boy is doing well and breathing normally.
He has a rare condition called Long Segment Congenital Tracheal Stenosis, in which patients are born with an extremely narrow airway.
"It is the first time a child has received stem cell organ treatment, and it's the longest airway that has ever been replaced."
Professor Martin Birchall, University College London
At birth his airway was just one millimetre across.
Doctors had previously operated to expand his airway but in November last year he suffered complications from erosion of a metal stent in his windpipe or trachea.
In order to build him a new airway, doctors took a donor trachea, stripped it down to the collagen scaffolding, and then injected stem cells taken from his bone marrow.
The organ was then implanted in the boy and over the next month, doctors expect the stem cells to transform into specialised cells which form the inside and outside of the trachea.
What an achievement! But underneath is something else I want to point out. This technique was pioneered by an Italian researcher, Dr. Paolo Macchiarini, who worked on this case and 2 others. From the University College London website:
Professor Macchiarini's seminal work, together with the UCL team, has now saved the life of two adults and one child. We have shown that stem cell-based treatments can save lives and can be used in the creation of living structures which draw upon the body's own natural healing mechanisms for their support.
"The step-wise progression in technique from first patient to the present has delivered a highly streamlined, rapid process. This means that such treatments potentially can be moved out of the hands of a tiny number of specialist centres into many hospitals around the world, including those in developing countries."
As in Germany, where Americans are going for adult stem cell treatments not available in the United States, research on embryos is prohibited in Italy. Is it simply coincidence that Dr. Macchiarini, who is saving lives now with adult stem cells, comes from a country that does not allow research on embryos? Possibly. But what if Italy did allow research on embryos? Would Dr. Macchiarini be putting all of his efforts instead on destroying early human life with no real clinical benefit in sight? Instead of using his considerable talents to wield adult stem cells and treat patients now, could he instead be playing with human life in a dish?
I cannot help but wonder how much farther ahead in treating patients with adult stem cells the U.S. would be if we did not allow our scientists to conduct research on human embryos.
