From Mouse to Man

16 May ABC's blog | Email this page | 266 reads

Tuesday, 10 June
8.35pm

This weeks Animal Pharm pushes the boundaries of the farm further, as we find out how its products are not only feeding us, but will also become essential to our own survival. Will the farms of the future use animals and crops to grow drugs, human cells and even organs?

We meet a flock of sheep with humanised organs; a herd of cloned cows with human immune systems which are milked for their blood; and the team who is growing human livers from those most miraculous of raw ingredients - stem cells.

We explore the spooky prospect of regeneration, with mice that show powers no mammal was previously thought to have; and witness how, with tissue engineering, scientists can now manipulate cartilage and skin cells so they can grow them into any shape. They show us how to grow a 'new nose'.

Skin is not the only organ that can be grown outside the body; bladders and livers are the next steps. We meet Kaitlyne, a 17-year-old American who has been implanted with the world's first 'farmed' bladder.

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