Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 13:58:38 +1200

-----Original Message-----

From: USSW

Date: Tuesday, 6 January 1998 14:27

Subject: US Scientists Create Living Breasts'

US Scientists Create Living Breasts'' Newspaper Reuters 04-JAN-98

LONDON (Reuters) - Women wanting breast implants after cancer surgery or to improve their looks may be able before long to have living tissue grown from their own cells implanted instead of silicone, Britain's Sunday Times newspaper reported.

American scientists have already succeeded in growing nipples and associated tissue using human cartilage cells, the newspaper said. Tissue engineers at the U.S. company Reprogenesis expect to try transplanting the nipples onto patients next year and predict that in five years they will be able to create whole breast transplants, it said.

The development could revolutionise treatment for women who lose breasts through cancer by offering a safer alternative to silicone implants. The breasts may also be available for cosmetic purposes, the Sunday Times said.

The nipples are grown from a small sample of fat and blood vessel cells taken from the buttock or thigh.

These are seeded onto a pre-shaped scaffolding of polymer plastic and growth factors added to promote cell division. The cell growth slows when the scaffolding is full and the polymer disappears leaving natural tissue.

Because the breast is created using the patient's own cells, there is no risk of the body rejecting it, the newspaper said.