Researchers compile most comprehensive roadmap of development of lungs
A team of scientists at US Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has for the first time compiled a comprehensive roadmap of the protein composition of human lungs. The scientists, who identified and measured 8,938 proteins, said in a paper published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, that they analyzed the protein composition and molecular maturation in pulmonary tissue from nearly 50 donors, from birth to 8 years.
These findings are expected to help identify a host of diseases that affect the majority of the human population, including infants. The paper also said that this research can be used to explore tissue regeneration in adults, highlighting that, with the advancement of technology, they would be able to find ways to regenerate lungs, or potentially make new lungs from cells of existing lungs.