Professor Hiromitsu Nakauchi uses induced pluripotent stem to grow kidneys in genetically modified mouse

NEWS.com.auMarch 10, 2009 06:37am
Professor Hiromitsu Nakauchi uses induced pluripotent stem
to grow kidneys in genetically modified mouse
Breaking News
SCIENTISTS have successfully used implanted cells to create kidneys inside a mouse whose
parents were genetically engineered so their offspring would not be born with the organs.
The team, headed by Professor Hiromitsu Nakauchi of Tokyo University's Institute of Medical
Science, extracted a fertilised egg obtained through the normal mating of the genetically modified
parents.
The embryo was then implanted with induced pluripotent stem, or iPS, cells from a mouse with
kidneys and then transplanted into the womb of a surrogate mother.
The baby mouse was born with kidneys and it is believed its bladder inflated and it produced urine as
normal, MCT news agency reported
Implanted iPS cells are thought to have compensated for the kidneys the mouse should have been
born without.
The team now plans to use the research to create internal organs of monkeys inside pigs.
"If we become able in the future to create human kidneys inside pigs, we'll be able to solve the
problem of a lack of organs for transplant surgery," Prof Nakauchi told MCT.