Technology is aiding diagnostics and medical research across the world as scientists have been able to find a cure for numerous major diseases. Now a group of scientists seems to have taken big step forward in helping people with lung disease.
The team at University of California, at Los Angeles in the US, made a 3D lung in a dish by using stem cell derived from lungs. They coated tiny gel beads with the stem cells and allowed them to self assemble into air sacks similar to human lungs.
The used the cells created from adult lungs to coat hydrogel beads which were then partitioned into wells where the cells grew and linked them to form and evenly distributed 3D pattern.
The lungs are not fully functional but will be instrumental in understanding idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, in which lungs become thick and stiff by scarring and lead to shortness of breath and lack of oxygen being supplied to the brain.
