The colon is part of the large intestine, and it has some differences from the small intestine. It lacks villi, small finger like structures that can help absorb nutrients in the small intestine. But crucially for tashero, the colon does have some key similarities to the small intestine. There both tube structures in the gut. So he wondered if he could use the colon, almost like a scaffold to put the small intestine organoids on so they would grow like a fully fledged organ. He tried this out in mice by first removing the outer surface of the colon and replacing it with the organoid tissue. After the transplantation of humo m organide, the mas colon st
The surprising structure of protons, and a method for growing small intestines for transplantation.
In this episode:
00:45 Probing the proton’s interior
Although studied for decades, the internal structure of the proton is still throwing up surprises for physicists. This week, a team of researchers report an unexpected imbalance in the antimatter particles that make up the proton.
Short Bowel Syndrome is an often fatal condition that results from the removal of the small intestine. Treatment options are limited to transplantation, but donor intestines are hard to come by and can be rejected by the body. Now researchers may have developed a method to grow a replacement small intestine using stem cells and a small section of colon.