The Benefits of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine
With the increasing number of patients enlisted in the
transplant list, the supply of healthy organs is quite limited. This is
demonstrated in the graph below:
The graph signifies that the number of patients enlisted on
the transplant waitlist far surpasses the donors. This is alarming as there are
so many patients whose life depends upon a new and healthy organ but organs are
not available to them.
However, a new and growing branch of science which is known
as tissue engineering is developing to propose a solution to this problem. With
the help of various techniques implemented in tissue engineering, patients can
receive temporary grafts until a healthy organ is available to them.
The various techniques and material implemented in tissue
engineering to synthesize new grafts include:
·
Stem cells or
regenerative medicine
·
Polymer scaffolds
·
Reprogramming or
regeneration of the iPS cells
·
Amniotic fluid or the
placental stem cells
·
Adult stem cells
·
Xenogenic cells
All these methods or materials are currently being applied
or being researched for implementing in the development of the graft. The
importance of these materials have been discussed below:
Stem
cells or regenerative medicine:
I just cannot stop emphasizing on the importance and the
greatness of the stem cells. Stem Cells are the type of cells that have the
potential to develop into another tissue type. For example, the embryonic stem
cells which are pluripotent, in nature, can differentiate into liver cells.
Whereas the adult stem cells are the type of stem cells which are multipotent,
this means their ability to divide into a germline is limited. The types of
stem cells are summarized in the table below:
Regenerative
medicine is a branch of biology where stem cells are used to develop new
tissue. Today, through regenerative medicine it is possible to conduct skin
replacement through tissue engineering. It has been speculated that through
regenerative medicine it will be possible to develop an entire organ from the
patient’s own cells in the lab itself ready for implants. Regenerative medicine
includes tissue engineering, however, it also focuses on self-repair.
Tissue
Engineering:
Tissue engineering is a field which is involved in
combining scaffolds, living cells and biologically active tissue to help a
damaged tissue repair.
In order to accomplish this task, a scaffold which can be
made from natural components like protein or an artificial component like plastic.
After the synthesis of a scaffold, cells of the specific type of tissue are
introduced. The scaffold usually has growth factors to facilitate the growth of
tissue. After this, the implant is introduced in the human body.
A scaffold can also be made from the patient’s own cell.
The cells from the patient are taken from the body and are allowed to grow on a
scaffold. This process has successfully produced a human heart, liver, lung and
kidney tissue. The development of scaffolds through this technique might not
cause an immune response as the cell belongs to the patients themselves. Hence,
making it a great advantage. However, this technique has still not gained
widespread usage in medical practice. These processes are also costly.
Currently, this type of organ development is used for research purposes. The
future goal is to implement this process to replace a diseased organ with an
organ developed in the lab.
The
method to make a scaffold is summarized in this image:
Through
the applications of these new technologies, we can develop a new organ which
can serve as a “replacement” to the diseased organ until a new healthy graft is
available!
References:
Tissue Engineering and
Regenerative Medicine | National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and
Bioengineering. (2009). Retrieved July 15, 2019, from Nih.gov website:
https://www.nibib.nih.gov/science-education/science-topics/tissue-engineering-and-regenerative-medicine
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