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But they did successfully isolate the epithelial cells from the immune system, as claimed above. And those cells survived for a week and managed to "mimic sever
by DennisP 3y ago
But they did successfully isolate the epithelial cells from the immune system, as claimed above. And those cells survived for a week and managed to "mimic several important kidney functions." I don't see how they could have survived if they weren't exposed to blood.
The filter won't be biological, so that part shouldn't trigger an immune response either.
- epcoa 3y agoWell they were “exposed” through a silicon membrane - but the point that were not exposed to whole blood. So the two questions on feasibility is how massive does this have to be to get effective filtration without resorting to pumping, and the thrombosis question. They discuss the methods - they last for 7 days but will they last for 7 years? 7 weeks? There’s just a ton of stuff between this experiment and a fully functional kidney.
- DennisP 3y agoNext step is a similar experiment lasting several months, so we should get an answer to one of your questions before too long. If it keeps a pig alive for that long then that seems like a good sign. They do say patients would still need EPO injections, since the device doesn't contain the type of cells required for that. And with sufficient funding they're still 4-5 years away from clinical trials, so they seem to agree there's a lot of work to go.