Regenerative Medicine

I found this picture and quote on reddit:

This is a “ghost organ.” It has been decelluralized, leaving only connective tissue. The organ can then be reseeded with a patient’s own cells to regenerate it so it can be transplanted without fear of tissue rejection. This is experimental

I have written on this process before (see: Francis N. Stein) and, to me, this may be the most exciting scientific development in the next ten to twenty years.  Imagine when your kidneys malfunction, you will then just go to an organ factory, give them a syringe full of your stem cells (from your bone marrow or possibly saved from your umbilical cord when you were born) and go back in a few weeks to have your new kidneys installed … no rejection-fighting drugs … little chance of failure … they will be your brand-new kidneys just like the ones you were born with.

I just hope I am around to see this medical miracle come to pass.

Afterthought: Although these ghost organs are now retrieved and processed from cadavers ... research scientists are now experimenting with 3-D printers to produce them.