Woman Given Windpipe Created in Laboratory

This case, considered a "milestone in medicine," discusses a woman who was given a new windpipe consisting of tissues from her own stem cells. Part of the 30-year-old's trachea needed to be replaced after undergoing a severe lung collapse, in order for her to live any sort of normal life in the future. Conventionally, the only option was removal of her lung so she and her doctors decided on the stem cell surgery, even though still a controversial option. Her team of doctors decided to replace the woman's lower trachea and bronchial tube to her left lung with a lab-grown airway. This procedure could signify the beginning of a new hope for patients with serious illnesses. With more and more successful stem cell surgeries, the process is starting to become more and more accepted popularly and in the medical world. It's so interesting to me that doctors and scientists can work together to basically strip down the trachea of a deceased person and turn the collagen into a working organ for a living person. It's truly mind blowing what lengths we can go to these days!