A revolutionary technique using stem-cell research could soon allow women to choose breast enhancements made of living tissue instead of silicone.
Scientists who have been able to grow human fat cells in the laboratory for the first time say the breakthrough means that patients could, in effect, grow their own implants. The researchers also claim that, in the longer term, it may be possible to grow replacement organs for transplant surgery.
The target patients are cancer sufferers and others who need reconstructive surgery. But the man who is pioneering the new technique, Jeremy Mao, professor of tissue engineering at the University of Illinois in Chicago, acknowledges that there could also be a substantial cosmetic market. Doubts persist about silicone or saline implants which, despite technical improvements, can rupture or leak.
About 15,000 women had cosmetic surgery last year, according to figures from the British Association of Aesthetic and Plastic Surgeons, up from 9,916 in 2003. In the US, about 6.2 million people need plastic surgery for medical reasons, mostly following the removal of a tumour. The same number again have plastic surgery for cosmetic reasons. Professor Mao has developed a method of isolating the patient's stem cells, culturing them into a fatty tissue mass, and then building it around a "scaffold" of the correct shape for breasts or lips.
Professor Mao said he first took adipose stem cells from a human donor and isolated the fat-generating cells. These were mixed with a chemical, hydrogel, "which can be moulded into any given shape or dimension". Hydrogel is a lightweight material licensed for use in medicine.
"You mould them into the shape of the other normal breast or the missing portion of breast and instead of implanting silicone or saline structures, we would use the stem cell-derived adipose implant," Professor Mao said.
The living tissue implants would not "wear out". And because they are derived from the patient's own stem cells, there would not be the problem of rejection that can arise with tissue from a donor.
heh - bored @ work on Easter Monday. 'nuff said
Discussion Zen 5 Speculation (EPYC Turin and Strix Point/Granite Ridge - Ryzen 9000)
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