Teratoma

[BrokenQuill92]

So I just had a thought, once a tumor is removed from the host body can it be sustained and/or grown seperately? And can it be used for organ donations?

[downbeatplumb]

So I just had a thought, once a tumor is removed from the host body can it be sustained and/or grown seperately? And can it be used for organ donations?

There is a famous tumour that once removed from the host kept growing when left in the right medium and was used for almost all tissue testing for decades. i read about it recently but can i find any links.

So a tumour can in rare circumstances grow outside the body BUT not safely (yet) you would not want it implanted in you.

I would never say that science couldn't fix any issues but......

[JuliaL]

There is a famous tumour that once removed from the host kept growing when left in the right medium and was used for almost all tissue testing for decades. i read about it recently but can i find any links.

You're probably thinking of the HeLa cell line.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrietta_Lacks
Henrietta Lacks was the woman who supplied these immortal cells. She got forgotten for several decades. Guilt over ignoring her has produced IMO an overabundance of detail about her life. There is a book. http://www.amazon.com/The-Immortal-Life-...1400052181

Tissue engineering organ replacement is a promising line of research.
" Wake Forest is the world’s largest regenerative medicine research center, and their current research is growing 22 different types of tissue: heart valves, muscle cells, arteries, and even fingers." (http://singularityhub.com/2009/06/08/gro...n-the-lab/)

Vat grown meat is a venerable sci-fi trope and could probably be done now only industrial farming is more economical.

I doubt that teratoma would be an optimal starting material. Too uncontrolled and damaged to produce healthy tissue.

[Dragonetti]

I was going to mention the immortal cells.