Failing body parts will be replaced by new organs "grown" by patients' own cells

Patients could one day use their own stem cells to "grow" new organs and replace failing body parts.  With at least 1,000 Britons dying each year waiting for a new heart, kidney or liver, this could offer a solution to the donor shortage crisis in the UK.

The pioneering technique involves inserting a patient's own stem cells into an artificial scaffold and requires no human donors.  As there are no problems with organ rejection patients will not need to spend a lifetime taking immuno-suppressive drug

Professor Paolo Macchiarini who performed the first transplant of an organ grown from the patient's own cells in 2008, said scientists were now on the verge of using regenerative medicine to treat a far wider range of conditions.