Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 16, 2012, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A18 A 18 WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, SATURDAY, JUNE 16, 2012 SCIENCE winnipegfreepress. com L ONDON - For the first time, doctors have successfully transplanted a vein grown with a patient's own stem cells, another example of scientists producing human body parts in the lab. In this case, the patient was a 10- yearold girl in Sweden who was suffering from a severe vein blockage to her liver. Last March, the girl's doctors decided to make her a new blood vessel to bypass the blocked vein instead of using one of her own or considering a liver transplant. They took a nine- centimetre section of vein from a deceased donor and stripped it of all its cells, leaving just a hollow tube. Using stem cells from the girl's bone marrow, they grew millions of cells to cover the vein, which took about two weeks. The new blood vessel was then transplanted into the patient. Because the procedure used her own cells, the girl did not have to take drugs to stop her immune system from attacking the new vein, as is usually the case in transplants involving donor tissue. " This is the future for tissue engineering, where we can make tailor- made organs," said Suchitra Sumitran- Holgersson of the University of Gothenburg, one of the study's authors. She and colleagues published the results of their work online Thursday in the British medical journal Lancet . The work was paid for by the Swedish government. The science is still preliminary and one year after the vein was transplanted, it needed to be replaced with another lab- grown vein when doctors noticed the blood flow had dropped. Experts from University College London raised questions in an accompanying commentary about how cost- effective the procedure might be, citing " acute pressures" on health systems that might make these treatments impractical for many patients. - The Associated Press TRUCK AND EQUIPMENT SUPER STORE 440 OAKPOINT RD. CALL GORD @ 633- 3333 gmatheson@ connexionindustries. ca STORE Summer Sale Sale ENGINE ENGINE $ 13,900 .00 $ 18,900 .00 FIVE YEAR POWERTRAIN ALL TRADES WELCOME $ 16,900 .00 $ 39,900 .00 J- SERIES R- SERIES G- SERIES P- SERIES AS LOW AS AS LOW AS AS LOW AS AS LOW AS 23 HP- 27HP . with loader . 4 wheel drive . mitsubishi diesel . with loader . 4 wheel drive . mitsubishi diesel . fully loaded cab . air & heat . loader . power shift available . self leveling loader . three hydro remotes . with loader . 4 wheel drive . skid steer bucket . hydro transmission 39HP- 47HP 72HP- 97HP 33HP- 38HP FP Payments do not include taxes. First month payment due at lease start. Lease example: .5% Lease APR for 48 months. Monthly payment is $ 668 with $ 0 down payment or equivalent trade. Total lease obligation is $ 32,064. Taxes, license, insurance, registration and any applicable fees are extra. 80,000 kilometer allowance, charge of $. 15 / km for excess kilometers. Vehicle is for illustration purposes only. Offer subject to change without notice. Z e ro do wn and zer o security deposit. 2012 MDX DOWN PAYMENT SECURITY DEPOSIT 48- MONTH LEASE $ 0 $ 0 0 .5% $ 668 * MONTHLY PAYMENT CrownAcura. ca In The Waverley AutoMall at Bishop Grandin 204- 269- 9551 AnotherJewelintheDilawriGroupCrown Girl's stem cells used to grow new vein By Maria Cheng LONDON - Diesel fumes cause cancer, the World Health Organization's cancer agency declared this week, a ruling it said could make exhaust as important a public health threat as second- hand smoke. The risk of getting cancer from diesel fumes is small, but since so many people breathe in the fumes in some way, the science panel said raising the status of diesel exhaust to carcinogen from " probable carcinogen" was an important shift. " It's on the same order of magnitude as passive smoking," said Kurt Straif, director of the International Agency for Research on Cancer department that evaluates cancer risks. " This could be another big push for countries to clean up exhaust from diesel engines." Since so many people are exposed to exhaust, Straif said there could be many cases of lung cancer connected to the contaminant. He said the fumes affected groups including pedestrians on the street, ship passengers and crew, railroad workers, truck drivers, mechanics, miners and people operating heavy machinery. The new classification followed a weeklong discussion in Lyon, France, by an expert panel organized by the IARC. The panel's decision stands as the ruling for the IARC, the cancer arm of the World Health Organization. - The Associated Press Diesel fumes as hazardous as passive smoking: WHO A_ 18_ Jun- 16- 12_ FP_ 01. indd A18 6/ 15/ 12 5: 16: 49 PM ;