Medical history was made in Barcelona, Spain when a young woman became the first person in the world to receive a whole organ entirely created in a laboratory. Claudia Castillo was given an artificial windpipe created from her own stem cells. The landmark operation could change the face of transplant surgery. The operation was performed in June. Castillo'se trachea was destroyed by tuberculosis. She suffered from breathing problems, was prone to infections and could not take care of her two children. This video of the procedure was provided by the clinic where the transplant was performed. First, the medical team found a donor trachea and then depleted the donor's cells from the trachea. Next, they obtained bone marrow stem cells from Castillo and used them to seed the outside of the donor trachea. The new hybrid organ could be identified by the Castillo's body as its own so drugs to dampen the immune system would be unnecessary. Finally, the new trachea was grafted onto the patient. The doctor who performed the transplant said the operation was a medical milestone for both the doctors and the patient. "I think it's a major achievement in the history of medicine, but especially for the patient, because as a young lady and a young mother she was unable to do her mother duties and her social work, and family work. And now she's able to do it without expecting, long-term, any significant compromise of this situation, and of the implanted graft," said Dr. Paolo Macchiarini. The success of this operation raises the possibility that other organs could be transplanted in the future without the use of drugs to dampen the immune system
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