Watch human muscle grown in a lab move

This week researchers at America's Duke university revealed they had grown human muscle in a lab that was able to move in response to external stimulus.

The breakthrough means scientists may be able to provided "personalised medicine" to patients by growing muscles from a small amount of their tissue to test which drug will work best to treat their conditions.

The lab-grown human muscle bundles.

"There are a some diseases, like Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy for example, that make taking muscle biopsies difficult," said associate professor Nenad Bursac, who led the research. "If we could grow working, testable muscles from induced pluripotent stem cells, we could take one skin or blood sample and never have to bother the patient again."

More: Bioengineered human myobundles mimic clinical responses of skeletal muscle to drugs