Doctors in the Netherlands Are Taking a Novel Approach to Treat Cystic Fibrosis

August 23, 2017

(Associated Press) – This experiment to help people with rare forms of cystic fibrosis in the Netherlands aims to grow mini intestines for every Dutch patient with the disease to figure out, in part, what treatment might work for them. It’s an early application of a technique now being worked on in labs all over the world, as researchers learn to grow organs outside of the body for treatment – and maybe someday for transplants. So far, doctors have grown mini guts – just the size of a pencil point – for 450 of the Netherlands’ roughly 1,500 cystic fibrosis patients.