Five children have new ears grown from their own cells in a world first
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By David Nield
A group of five children in China have been given new ears – based on detailed 3D models and grown from their own cells – in a world first for this kind of treatment.
The kids, aged between six and nine, all had microtia, where the external part of the ear ends up deformed. In these cases the condition was unilateral, affecting only one side, so scientists were able to create high-resolution scans of their healthy ears to help grow replacement ones.
Now the team of tissue engineers and plastic surgeons has proved these techniques can work in human beings, they could offer a new lease of life for people living with microtia or other similar conditions.
‘The results represent a significant breakthrough in clinical translation of tissue engineered human ear-shaped cartilage given the established in vitro engineering technique and suitable surgical procedure,’ write the researchers in their published paper.
Cartilage cells called chondrocytes were harvested from the non-d...
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