Artificial organs are not always relevant to the area of transplantation. Sometimes it is necessary to conduct various studies and even less serious research. For example, recently a team of scientists from Cambridge University have announced that for the first time in the world managed to create an artificial placenta. And this success will help scientists in many fields, beyond the processes of maturation and development of the fetus.
According to scientists, the artificial body may act like a during the first trimester of pregnancy. Artificial “mini-placenta” will help to understand the main causes of miscarriages, as well as to predict and simulate the processes that can lead to pre-eclampsia and stillbirth. A small, artificial organs will be used in order to understand how tissues develop in normal pregnancies, as well as what goes wrong when natural processes are violated.
“Now we can begin to experiment with how placental development occurs in a natural environment. Previously, this was impossible, as the law prohibits such experiments on humans, animals and the placenta works in a completely different way.” -said senior researcher and Professor of reproductive medicine and immunology at the University of Cambridge Ashley Moffett.
To create an artificial organ researchers used the NAP of the fabrics of the present of the placenta. They are combined into a multicellular structure that is able to secrete proteins and hormones as in a normal pregnancy but researchers can easily vary the size of the authority from 0.1 mm up to half a meter or more.
As already mentioned, scientists want to use bodies to explore common complications of pregnancy. In addition, “mini-placenta” will also help to understand how certain infections affect the development of the fetus. Potential to grow with the artificial placenta is not yet mentioned.
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