BRAINCAKEOrgans for Transplants
There are far fewer donor organs available than there are patients who need transplants, and many people die while waiting. Donor organs also have to be closely tissue-matched, and even then the recipient's immune system may reject them, so patients take immunosuppressant drugs for life.
Stem cells could solve both problems by growing organs from the patient's own cells, which carry matching antigens and so are not rejected.
Scaffold method
1. A donor organ, or an artificial frame, is treated with detergents to remove all its cells, leaving a collagen scaffold with the organ's shape and blood vessel channels.
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Key terms in this lesson
- organoid
- A small, simplified three-dimensional organ grown from stem cells in the laboratory.
- bioreactor
- A vessel in which cells are grown under controlled conditions to multiply and produce tissue or a product.
- immunosuppressant
- A drug that suppresses the immune system to prevent it rejecting a transplant.
More in Gene Expression
- Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
- Diseases that Could Be Treated
- Type I Diabetes
- Damaged Nerves
- Stem Cell Success
- Ethical Questions
- Using Embryonic Stem Cells
- Advantages of Therapeutic Cloning
All 39 lessons in Gene Expression · All Edexcel A-level Biology topics