Lab-Grown Blood Vessel Used for First Time in the U.S., Duke University Hospital Study

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A 62-year-old Virginia man with kidney failure received the first genetically engineered blood vessel in the U.S., a vein that may improve his dialysis treatments and pave the way for future tissue transplants. The operation at Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina, yesterday marked the first time doctors have implanted an “off-the-shelf” tissue graft in the U.S. The vessel, grown with human cells on a mesh tube, has the potential to be widely used since it was cleansed of any lingering cells that may trigger an immune reaction, said the doctors who performed the surgery.

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