Scientists Regrow an Entire Rat Limb in the Lab

Scientists' regrown rat limb. (Credit: Bernhard Jank, M.D., Ott Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Regenerative Medicine) Prosthetic limb technology has certainly advanced over the years, but replacing lost limbs with fleshy, biologically functional limbs remains the ultimate prize. And scientists just got a step closer to that goal. A team of regenerative scientists and surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital successfully grew a semi-functional rat forelimb in the lab, employing a technique previously used to build bio-artificial organs. If someday perfected, the experimental approach could be used to create human limbs suitable for transplantation.