It has long been a given that adult humans — and mammals in general — lack the capacity to grow new nephrons, the kidney’s delicate blood filtering tubules, which has meant that dialysis, and ultimately kidney transplantation, is the only option for the more than 450,000 Americans who have kidney failure.

But a new study by Harvard Stem Cell Institute researchers and collaborators at the University of Pittsburgh may turn that paradigm on its head, and someday lead to a new treatment for those suffering from kidney disease.

To read more, click here.