The recent venture funding for Tengion would seem to be why Dr. Anthony Atala's work on tissue engineering is getting press placement of late. Such is the way the world works, but it doesn't make the level of scientific progress any less interesting: "Atala said his research with engineering organs is still at the preclinical stage, which means it has not been tested in humans. However, when he transplanted these artificial bladders into dogs that lacked functional bladders, the organs developed and functioned normally after a month. Atala has helped develop [urethras] which have successfully been implanted in humans. He has created blood vessels, muscle, wombs and vaginas, which have been successfully tested in animals and are close to being ready to test in humans."
Link: http://www.knoxstudio.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=ORGANS-RECIPE-08-12-05&cat=AN