Artificial Intestines Near Reality

Discovery News/ By Alyssa Danigelis

enlarge

A scan showing the tiny artificial intestine developed in the lab (right) and a close-up of the engineered bio-scaffold (left).

Donna Beer Stolz and Jiajie Yu

Science has given us working artificial hearts, hips, limbs and bladders, and even a trachea.

But no one has successfully created an artificial intestine, until now. A team of researchers has created a tiny one in the lab made from collagen and stem cells. They plan to scale the tube up within three years so it can be tested in human trials.

NEWS: World’s First Synthetic Organ Transplant

“We’re going to be taking these and inserting them into animals to see if it actually works,” said John March, an assistant professor of biological and environmental engineering at Cornell University who developed the artificial intestine structure.

March is developing the artificial intestine with Dr. David Hackam, a pediatric surgeon and scientist at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine who specializes in treating bowel disorders.  More >>