Bioengineered kidneys: new sights on a distant horizon

The need for renal replacement therapy is currently rising at an annually increasing rate. Current treatment options for patients with end-stage kidney disease include dialysis or organ transplantation. Yet, even though transplant survival has increased due to refined immunosuppressive therapy, morbidity remains high because of organ shortage. Here we discuss a recent publication that describes the transplantation of a bioengineered biocompatible kidney from a decellularized organ scaffold, thus possibly providing a solution to both transplant organ shortage and morbidity associated with long-term immunosuppression.