Tech Brings Hope to Those Needing Kidney Transplants

In other news, the business of taking a kidney out of one person and putting it into another was dealt another blow, with the publication of new research into the production of stem cells from somatic cells. The new method does not involve viral gene transmission and is regarded as a significant breakthrough.

The implications of somatic cell research are huge. Your own skin cells could be taken to grow you a kidney or whatever you need, one day not so far down the road. No rejection risks. No anti-rejection drugs. No demand for human trafficking to supply tissues and organs: a huge blow to transnational organized crime.

The smart money and the ethical money in organ replacement and repair, is on somatic-to-stem cell research.

An FDA advisory panel just recommended that the warning for Covidien's Optimark and GE's Omnisca—drugs in the family of medications known as gadolinium-based contrast agents (DBCAs)—be updated to restrict their use in patients with severe kidney disease because of the potential for an increased risk of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF). NSF causes thickening of the skin and organs. GBCAs carry a strong "black box" warning. This site has good information on this issue: http://www.gadolinium-mri.com/index.html