"Duke scientist is perfecting human parts."

In small jars full of cherry-red liquid, Laura Niklason has achieved a do-or-die step in her quest to grow human body parts under glass.

The Duke University scientist is making blood vessels from cells taken from older patients. The British journal Lancet reports on Niklason's success today.

Years ago, she used pig cells to produce blood vessels in the lab. She also created vessels from robust cells from a 2-year-old child.

But assembling vessels from the less lively cells taken from older people -- those most likely to need stand-in arteries for surgeries -- was never a sure thing.

The engineered tissue -- beige, bendable and looking a lot like narrow plastic tubing -- isn't ready for the operating room yet. But its existence gives Niklason new hope that she might achieve a goal she has chased hard for a decade.

"Three years ago, I thought it might be impossible," said Niklason, who at age 42 is an international leader in the race to engineer useful human tissue. "Now I think there is 80 percent certainty we can make this work."

To read the article in its entirety, please visit http://tinyurl.com/993kr


[ResearchPort]