Body transplant map

Imagine the scenario: you go to see your doctor about your troublesome bladder; but instead of handing you a prescription for some pills the doc suggests that you have should have the offending object whipped out and replaced with a new one, biologically and genetically identical to your old one.

This prospect may seem like science fiction, but Dr Michio Kaku, who presents a new BBC Four series investigating this issue, along with other futuristic topics in medicine and technology, believes it may soon be a reality.

As life expectancy increases, replacing failing parts that are beyond repair is likely to become an increasing priority for medicine.

“Just like we have car body shops today, we’ll have human body shops in the future where we go to replace any worn-out parts,” says Dr Kaku, a Harvard-trained academic, and an author and TV presenter. He has already seen one of these human body shops first-hand: “I went into the world’s leading centre in regenerative medicine, in North Carolina. It was a little like going into Frankenstein’s laboratory; there were body tissues – noses, ears and bladders – growing on the laboratory benches.”

Dr Kaku believes that there is an urgent need for this technology. Although the benefits of our extended lifespan are clear – such as more time to see our grandchildren grow and flourish, opportunities to travel the world – the drawback is that our “sunset” years can be dogged by illness.

But how far are we from being able to replace all parts of the human body? Perhaps not that far. The regenerative centre in North Carolina, at Wake Forest University, says that it grows more than 20 body parts in its laboratory, including bone, muscle and the major organs. Here is a rundown of the latest body-replacement technology available now, as well as techniques that may be possible in the future.

Visions of the Future starts on BBC Four on Monday, 9pm 1

1 BRAIN CELL TRANSPLANTS Researchers are developing methods of transplanting stem cells into the brains of patients suffering from neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and strokes, in the hope of reversing damage. In animal experiments, stem cells injected into the brain have turned into brain cells, replacing damaged neurons.

2 CORNEAS Plastic corneas are used in the UK to give vision to people unsuitable for a conventional cornea transplant. The corneas are made of inert material because those taken from deceased donors react badly with host immune systems. Another innovation involves replacing corneal cells with stem cells.

3 ARTIFICIAL RETINAS The US Department of Energy is testing out an implantable microelectronic device that restores useful vision to people blinded by diseases such as macular degeneration. A chip thinner than a human hair, implanted at the back of the eye, receives image data from a wireless connected via special spectacles and sends visual signals to the brain.

4 IMPLANTABLE HEARING AIDS Invisible aids, surgically inserted under the skin, into the skull or into the middle ear, are being trialled in the UK and United States. Their makers say they provide clearer sound than traditional aids, and volume can be adjusted by remote control. Suitable for people with less profound hearing loss.

5 HAIR Head hair and body hair transplants are now available, but if the procedure doesn’t make your eyes water, the cost will – £2,800 for 1,000 hairs. Doctors remove follicles from a hairy part of the body and graft them on to the bald spots.

6 NOSE AND EAR CARTILAGE Human cartilage is now grown in laboratories across the globe. Its potential uses range from reconstructive surgery to high-tech nose jobs.

Scientists use degradeable sponge moulds, not unlike jelly moulds, to grow the tissue. This work is still at an early stage.

7 TOOTH IMPLANTS Embedding a plastic tooth into the jawbone, by first screwing a titanium rod into the bone, then fixing the artificial tooth on top, is becoming an increasingly common way of replacing broken teeth, reducing the need for bridges or partial dentures. But each one costs about £2,000.

8 GUM GRAFTS Receding gums can be treated by transplanting tissue from the roof of the mouth to areas where the tooth root has become exposed. The technique is performed by periodontists (gum specialists) under local anaesthetic, and the two areas of gum fuse within days. It costs around £600 a tooth.

9 REPLACEMENT SPINAL DISCS Artificial discs are a new treatment option for people who suffer severe back pain as a result of the degeneration of the shock-absorbing discs between vertebrae. The remnants of the old discs are surgically removed, and the replacements of cobalt or titanium, which have a plastic core, are inserted through the front of the body.

10 SKIN Sheffield University scientists have developed plastic skin to treat severe burns. The material, which may reach clinics in five years, consists of a plastic scaffolding layer that resembles candyfloss. This plastic facilitates the growth of a layer of realskin on top of it. The skin is then transplanted on to the patient.

11 ARTIFICIAL HEARTS The AbioCor implantable heart, the first completely self-contained artificial heart approved in the US, has successfully kept patients alive for as long as 20 months before a heart transplant. The treatment is not yet available in the UK.

12 TRANSPLANTED OVARIES It was announced this summer that Belgian scientists had successfully transferred ovary tissue from a woman to her sister, whose ovaries had been destroyed by cancer drugs. The tissue went on to produce eggs that were fertilised and developed into embryos. Earlier transplants have also successfully transferred ovaries between identical twins.

13 TRANSPLANTED WOMBS American doctors are preparing to perform the first human womb transplant from a deceased donor. The team from New York Downtown Hospital hopes that the operation will help women who want to have children but have been born with no womb, or who have had the womb removed because of cancer or pregnancy complications.

14 BLADDER TRANSPLANT Last December doctors from Wake Forest University Medical School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, said they had spared seven spina bifida patients a “lifetime of incontinence” after giving them bladders grown in a laboratory from the patient’s own cells.

15 REPLACEMENT HANDS Scientists are increasingly becoming expert at transplanting whole hands from dead donors; about 25 hand transplants have taken place in the past five years. But tissue rejection is still a problem. Now researchers at Southampton University have devised an alternative, an ultra-light mechanical hand, which closely mimics real hand movement, and can be connected to muscles in the arm thanks to a small processing unit. It is not yet widely available.

16 MUSCLES Forget spending hours toning and firming ageing muscles. Last year American scientists developed a way of growing muscle on a supportive gel. They have already grown heart muscle, and they are looking at developing larger muscles, such as in arms and legs.

17 BLOOD VESSELS In Argentina, in 2005, two patients received replacement blood vessels grown in a lab from their own skin. Scientists grew flat sheets of the patients’ tissue, then stacked and rolled these into tubular vessels. Further trials are planned in Argentina.

18 ARTIFICIAL JOINTS Artificial hips and knees (both approaching close to 50,000 procedures in the UK a year) are old hat now... replacement shoulder, wrist, ankle and elbow joints are the new kids on the block. They are mainly used in cases of severe arthritis. The sophisticated design of the joints, which are made from titanium or stainless steel coated with plastic, enables them to reproduce the movements of these complex joints.

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