...in the lab:

They took a bladder biopsy from each patient and isolated muscle cells and special bladder cells called urothelial cells, which they grew in the lab.

The cells were then placed onto a specially designed bladder-shaped scaffold and left to grow for seven to eight weeks.

The researchers surgically attached the engineered bladder to the patient's own bladder and followed progress for up to five years.

They're working on hearts as well. This sort of thing seems inevitable to me, and it's exciting that it seems to be coming along very quickly, because I (curiously, like everyone I know) am not getting any younger.

So much for the argument about harvesting organs from clones... they are proving you don't need to make the whole body, just the necessary organ.

A bladder-shaped scaffold, hmm? What would be cool is if they could grow you a little bit differently shaped bladder with a higher capacity, so that you could sit through really long movies without having to go potty.

Other modifications could be done as well, I'm sure. Body Optimization.

For you guys who have not yet read Kurzweil's "The singularity is near", I'll recommend reading it. Lots and lots of interesting thoughts about the future of medicine, biology, nanotech, genetics, robotics etc.

Some of the stuff is a bit "far fetched and controversial", and there are a lot of well educated people who disagree with Kurzweils predictions, but if only a part of the stuff presumed by the book happens... Well it's going to be one hell of a future.

Just trying to say that growing organs is the near future, and future... Well, how about:
1) determining the fundamentals of cell aging
2) controlling aging of cells
3) ...
n+1) reversing of human aging -> immortality...
(did I already mention controversial)

And the above concerns biology, some wild predictions on nanotech, robotics, artificial intelligence, etc.

4) Profit!!!

Reminds me of an old college friend of mine who (jokingly) argued that there was no reason not to drink heavily, for the simple reason that by the time he needed a new liver, they'd be able to grow him one. :)

Of course, if medicine continues at it's current pace of surrender to rule of lawyers (very distinct from rule of law), regulation, and bueracracy, it doesn't matter what medical advances we acheive - no one would be able to afford them.