One of the major obstacles to growing new organs—replacement
hearts, lungs and kidneys—is the difficulty researchers face in building blood
vessels that keep the tissues alive, but new findings from the University of
Michigan could help overcome this roadblock.
"It's not just enough to make a piece of tissue that
functions like your desired target," said Andrew Putnam, U-M associate
professor of biomedical engineering. "If you don't nourish it with blood
by vascularizing it, it's only going to be as big as the head of a pen.
"But we need a heart that's this big," he added,
holding up his fist.