Scientists make 'laboratory-grown' kidney

A kidney "grown" in the laboratory has been transplanted into animals where it started to produce urine. The work was carried out at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, USA.

Similar techniques to make simple body parts have already been used in patients, but the kidney is one of the most complicated organs made so far.

A study, in the journal Nature Medicine, showed the engineered kidneys were less effective than natural ones.

Fergus Walsh reports.

Pictures from Nature Medicine and Massachusetts General Hospital.