Can leprosy help repair our bodies?

Leprosy could help our bodies - 25th September 2023

Leprosy is a very old disease. In the past, it was very dangerous. But now, scientists are using bacteria from the disease. They're growing organs with leprosy bacteria. Organs are important parts of the body, like the heart and liver.

Scientists used leprosy bacteria in the liver. This organ changes food into energy. The liver grew lots of new cells.

The tests used animal livers. The bacteria made the livers grow nearly two times bigger. This gave the bacteria extra space to grow.

These new liver cells were normal and healthy. And they were younger too. This surprised Professor Aruna Rambukkana.

Scientists can sometimes grow new organs. But there are often problems with them. "There is no cell therapy that can do that," said Professor Rambukkana.

Professor Rambukkana is excited. But results in people may be different. And leprosy's a serious disease. 250,000 people get leprosy every year. People need special medicines to stop the disease.