Injured Human Donor Lungs Can Be Repaired!
Written by: Aron Brown
Over at physorg.com they have just released a new article, Gene therapy repairs injured human donor lungs for the first time, about a new method of using a technique called ex vivo gene delivery to “deliver” the IL-10 gene into human donor lungs.
Credit: Dr. Marcelo Cypel
A team of scientists, in the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine, University Health Network have successfully used this new technique to repair injured human donor lungs!
The implications for this technology are staggering. As Dr. Keshavjee said “For the first time, we hope to improve the health of donor lungs that we could not have used before by using gene therapy to decrease inflammation and repair cells before transplantation.” Future research into this technology could help solve the two major problems that transplantation surgery face today.
1st: Lack of organs. I know for the most part when it comes to the lack of organs people keep referring to the new technologies that will allow us to grow our own organs, but the simple fact of the matter is that the technology for growing organs is decades away. The ability to repair injured organs is closer than we think, and it would be a large step in both preventing the need for organ transplants, and limiting the number of organs deemed un-usable.
2nd: Organ rejections. Almost everyone knows about the problems related to organ transplants. Doctors do everything they can, but still a body will reject a perfectly functioning organ.
Figure. Structure of the MHC Class I Molecule
First of all lets take a look into why your body rejects a transplanted organ.
Your body can’t tell the difference between good and evil. It doesn’t look at a virus and go “hey look a virus! lets get it.” That’s not how it works. Instead your bodies immune system uses the system of “me” and “not me” to tell what is not supposed to be there. It does this through the use of an MCH (major histocompatability complex). In the case of organ rejections it is the MCH I, which every cell in your body has. The MCH I passes a protein to the surface of the cell, then the TCR (T cell receptor), on the T-cell, tries to match up with it. If there is a match The T-cell, a type of white blood cell, recognizes the target cell as “me” and leaves it alone. If there is not a match, the T-cell copies the protein and passes it to the rest of the immune system so that it can fight off the intruder.
The cells of donated organs have a different MCH protein build, so the body recognizes it as a foreign body, and attacks it. What if this new technology could be used to change the MCH of the organ to be donated? Through genetic engineering could it be possible one day to do this? If so there would be no rejection of organ transplants.
The future in medical technology is evolving everyday and gene therapy is at the forefront. Through Genetic Research we could help cure cancer, aids, psychological and physical disorders. Keep your eyes and minds open to this growing field. Genetic Research has been blacklisted as “evil” or “messing with Gods blueprints”. These are two different fields! Genetic Therapy is not Genetic Engineering. If you feel that we are “messing with Gods blueprints” then go on with hating Genetic Engineering but do NOT hate Genetic Therapy. If anything Genetic Therapy is the “embracing of Gods blueprints” unlike Genetic Engineering it doesn’t change genes it repairs them.
Founded in 1986 as the Alliance for Genetic Support Groups, Genetic Alliance has become the world's leading nonprofit health advocacy organization committed to transforming health through genetics.
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