Please wait. Contacting image service... loading

Article text

Replica human ear grown on mouse's back
BOSTON, Wednesday: It's not
from a sideshow: the mouse with
a human ear on its back is real.
With others it is expanding a
science called tissue engineering:
skin and cartilage are grown for
transplant into people.
The mouse in question, at Uni-
versity of Massachusetts anaes-
thesiologist Dr Charles Vacanti's
laboratory, is being used to refine
the technology that will let them
regrow ears and noses.
Linda Griffith-Cima, an assis-
tant professor of chemical engi-
neering who helped Dr Vacanti
grow the first ears on mice, said
she did it at the request of plastic
surgeon Dr Joe Upton.
"He said, 'I see these kids who
are born without ears and I have
boys who come in whose ears
have been chewed off in play-
ground fights, and I can't sew
them back on because they're so
chewed up'," she said. She creat-
ed an ear-like scaffolding of po-
rous, biodegradable polyester fab-
ric, then she and Dr Vacanti
distributed human cartilage cells
throughout the form, and implant-
ed the prototype ear in the back
of a hairless mouse.
The mouse, specially bred not
to reject the human tissue, nour-
ished the ear as cartilage cells
grew to replace the fibre. It was
healthy after the ear's removal,
the researchers said. "You end up
with a piece of cartilage in the
shape of an ear," Dr Griffith-Cima
said.
The research follows that of Dr
Vacanti's brother, Joseph, a sur-
geon who does liver transplants
at the Children's Hospital, and Dr
Robert Langer, professor of chem-
ical engineering at MIT.
AP Picture The hairless mouse, which survived the removal of the grown "ear". Help
AP Picture
The hairless mouse, which survived the removal of the grown "ear".
Twelve years ago Joseph Va-
canti began searching for ways to
grow new liver tissue in sick
children instead of waiting for do
nor organs. Too many of his pa-
tients died awaiting transplants.
Now he can implant a polymer
scaffolding in a diseased rat's liv-
er and transplant new liver cells.
The new liver will grow and func-
tion for up to six weeks.
They and others have grown
liver, skin, cartilage, bone, ure-
ters, heart valves, tendons, intes-
tines, blood vessels and breast
tissue on such polymers.
Such tissue products are not
yet available to the public but
skin products are in advanced
clinical testing on people and
heart valves are in the early
phase.
The chemical engineers say
their job now is to create better
polymers. "It's one thing to grow
cartilage that holds a shape for
cosmetic surgery, another to grow
cartilage that could mend a shat-
tered knee," Dr Griffith-Cima
said.
Dr Peter Theran, director of
laboratory animal welfare for the
Massachusetts Society for the Pre-
vention of Cruelty to Animals,
said he did not oppose the re-
search. "Generally speaking, we
support the use of tissue culture
work because often it means us
ine fewer live animals," he said.
— AP
$