First Ever Vein Made From Girl's Own Stem Cells - as part of the news series by GeoBeats.

Like an idea out of a science fiction story, doctors have grown a vein in a laboratory to save a young girl’s life.

Grown with the patient’s own stem cells, the Swedish medical team successfully transplanted the vein into a 10 year old girl who was suffering from a serious blockage to her liver.

Typically, a procedure like this would include the harvesting of a vein from a patient’s own neck or leg, which can often lead to trauma and other maladies.

The donor vein from a deceased man was thoroughly washed and stripped of all cells leaving behind a type of temporary framework to bathe in stem cells from the girl’s bone marrow.

Two weeks later the vein was grafted into the girl’s body resulting in improved blood flow and no signs of rejection or any need for immune suppressing medication. One year later the young girl has gained 11 pounds and grown about 2 inches in height.

The success of this operation has opened up further areas of study and whether the ability for scientists to create other tissue-engineered parts such as arteries or major organs is possible.