Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Artificial Organs and Regenerative Medicine

Recent discoveries made by biomedical engineers, and other scientists in related areas of research, have led to a new field of medicine, and new opportunities for patients with damaged organs. This field, regenerative medicine, is based off of the concept that every tissue in the human body has the capacity to regenerate, once cells that trigger cell division send the cues to the body. Currently, scientists are utilizing extracellular matrix, a combination of proteins and connective tissue, harvested from pig bladders and manipulated into powder form. This seemingly miraculous powder works on the cellular level to activate cells that build new cells when tissues become damaged. The field of regenerative medicine has proven quite promising; scientists have been able to trigger cell growth of 22 different types of tissues at one lab at Wake Forest University alone (for a comprehensive list of all the tissues, visit the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine website). For example, these researchers were able to construct a completely functional esophagus and bladder. What was incredibly exciting was that, since cardiac cells are the only muscle cells that can move individually, the researchers at Wake Forest were able to build a heart valve that was already beating.

A researcher at Wake Forest University uses a mold to help an artificial bladder retain its shape and continue growing correctly


The benefits of artificial organs are obvious: fewer surgeries necessary, perhaps even a reduced need for organ transplants, lower risk of rejection because the organs are made from the body's own cells, the list of advantages are numerous. However, like any new scientific discovery, it has its pitfalls. First and foremost, since this breakthrough is so recent, there is not enough research that can conclude whether or not artificial organs can cause disorders or defects. Furthermore, the ultimate success of these organs are unknown, and treating a failing organ could be difficult. Another stumbling block is, similar to the debate of whether or not stem cell research is ethical, people are concerned by the ongoing research in these labs. Those in negation of this form of research question whether or not humans have the right to "play God" and create such organs.

1 comment:


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