Transplant

Researchers have developed a new nanotherapy to enhance the effectiveness of a type 1 diabetes treatment. The innovation packages immunosuppressive drugs into nanoparticles to reduce the likelihood of a body rejecting newly transplanted islet cells.

In a historic procedure surgeons have, for the first time, transplanted a genetically modified pig heart into a living human. The patient is still alive, has not rejected the organ and is being monitored at the University of Maryland Medical Center.

Stem cell transplants to treat blood cancers can be a risky process. In a new study in mice, researchers found a way to make the process safer by targeting a patient’s faulty stem cells more precisely, removing the need for radiation or chemotherapy.

A major challenge when it comes to preserving tissues and organs for transplantation is preventing the buildup of ice crystals that can cause critical damage, but an emerging technology may help sidestep the whole issue.

When a patient receives an organ transplant, they have to take drugs in order to keep their immune system from rejecting the organ. Such medication may one day no longer be necessary, however, thanks to a new blood vessel coating.

Organ transplants save lives, but rejection is a serious issue. That risk can be reduced by stripping donor cells out of the donor organ and replacing them with the recipient’s own, and now scientists have made that process safer with a protein bath.

Glaucoma can cause vision loss that's currently irreversible. But now scientists have found that removing a membrane in the eye could help transplanted cells migrate into the optic nerve and repair the connections, potentially restoring lost vision.

Wired devices called oximeters are the gold standard when it comes to monitoring oxygenation in transplanted tissue, but scientists may have found a better way forward in the form of a paint-on bandage that glows instead.

Liver cells are quick to regenerate, and now researchers have discovered just how persistent those cells can be. In tests in pigs with severe liver damage, functional new backup livers were found to grow in the animals’ lymph nodes.

In a clinical trial, a baby in Japan has received the world’s first successful transplant of new liver cells derived from embryonic stem cells. The “bridge treatment” kept the infant healthy until old enough to receive a liver transplant.

Scientists have managed to copy one of cancer's strategies to hide from the immune system, and use it for good. They made new microparticles that permanently prevent transplanted tissue or even whole limbs from being rejected by the immune system.

When someone has a severe burn, a protective covering needs to be temporarily grafted onto the wound site. Although that covering typically consists of skin from a human cadaver, live-cell pig skin has now been used on a patient for the first time.