Scientists create the first lab-grown human skeletal muscle

Researchers at Duke University have successfully grown human skeletal muscle that can contract and respond to stimuli the same way living tissue would. The lab-grown muscle will help scientists study the effects of drugs and disease on muscle tissue.

"The beauty of this work is that it can serve as a test bed for clinical trials in a dish," Nenad Bursac, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Duke and lead author of the study, told Science Daily. Researchers can now test drugs' effects "without jeopardizing a patient's health."

Bursac hopes the discovery will help doctors better personalize prescriptions for each patient. Check out the contracting muscle in action in the video below. --Meghan DeMaria

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