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KS4/KS5 activity
New biotechnology: Growing a
liver in a laboratory
Procedure
How this
works
What this new
technology
could replace
What are the
advantages of this new
technology over the old?
Are there any
limitations/disadvantages
of using this technology?
Creating a
liver in a
lab
Stem cells are
used to grow a
new liver on
the connective
tissue and
blood vessel
scaffold of an
old liver.
Organ
transplants
• The stem cells would be
from the patient so the
organ would not be
rejected.
• Donor livers that are too
damaged to be used for
traditional transplants
could be used for the
scaffold.
The stem cells might come
from embryos which raises
ethical questions.
© Snapshot Science, 2010
KS5 activity
New biotechnology:
Creating plastic antibodies
Procedure
How this
works
What this new
technology
could replace
What are the
advantages of this new
technology over the old?
Are there any
limitations/disadvantages
of using this technology?
Creating
plastic
antibodies
Polymers would
be used to
create a
‘molecular
imprint’ around
the antigen of
interest - a bit
like making a
plaster cast of
a footprint.
Monoclonal
antibodies
produced using
hybridoma cells
• No need for using cells or
animals to create the
antibodies so less ethical
dilemmas.
• Antibodies can be ‘tailor
made’ to lock onto a
massive range of
different antigens like
pathogens and proteins
that cause allergic
reactions.
• The plastic antibodies
cannot communicate with
other cells so are unable to
set up an immune response
(so could not be used in
vaccinations for example).
• Could the liver cope with
removing the antibodies
from the body?
© Snapshot Science, 2010