Kidneys grown in genetically modified mouse

NEWS.com.au

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.