A first subunit of a bioengineered kidney.
There is a worldwide epidemic of end-stage kidney disease. At present, dialysis and transplantation are the only treatment options. In the Netherlands alone, 6,500 people currently depend on dialysis, approximately 1,300 of which will die this year. Regenerative medicine offers an alternative treatment in the form of a bioengineered kidney. In this first project, the RegMed XB partners will work towards creating a functioning subunit of a bioengineered kidney. This functional subunit is the nephron, of which there are approximately one million in the adult kidney.