Regenerative Medicine: Broader Frontiers

Many of us have all heard the saying that a “lizard can lose its tail,” and bizarrely enough it will grow back. This was always considered impossible for humans, an idea belonging in the realm of science fiction, but now the regeneration of tissue is an extremely realistic possibility. Despite some opinions, this process does not happen naturally, or take place as cinematically as one might imagine. Over the past decade, there have been major advances in regenerative medicine, commonly known as stem cell research. Stem cells are undifferentiated cells within the body that have the capability to specialize into any tissue. They are most commonly found in cord blood, bone marrow, organ donations, placenta, and embryos . Stem cells are seen by some as a new miracle treatment, encouraging many countries to invest in their research.

Tissue engineering is an emerging interdisciplinary field that uses principles from engineering, biology and chemistry in an effort towards tissue regeneration. The main draw of tissue engineering is the regeneration of a patient’s own tissues and organs free from low biofunctionality and poor biocompatibility and serious immune rejection. As medical care continues to improve and life expectancy continues to grow, organ shortages become more problematic.(Manufacturing living things) According to organdonor.gov, a patient is added to the waiting list every 10 minutes and an average of 18 people die everyday waiting for an organ donation. The “nirvana” of tissue engineering is to replace the need for organ donation altogether. This could be achieved using scaffolding from

In the past, the only way to replace diminished cells, tissues, and organs was from organ transplantation. An organ donor was needed, and the tissues would be surgically removed from the donated body and placed into the recipient. Due to the current research being conducted, it is believed that tissue engineering and organ printing can contribute to the process of improving and saving lives.

Stem cells are unspecialized pluripotent cells capable of renewing themselves through cell division and can be influenced to become specific cells with special functions. (Source F). It is no exaggeration to say that harnessing the amazing regenerative properties of stem cells will greatly aid the medical field in finding cures for debilitating chronic diseases. On February 1, 1961, Dr. James Till and Ernest McCulloch established The Foundation for Stem Cell Science and incredible advances have continued. The most recent happened on February 20, 2016 when stem cells were used to replace part of a human brain. (Source E). Their regenerative properties can be utilized to repair organs such as eyes for the blind, or hearts for those suffering with cardiovascular disease. Stem cell therapy can

So many solutions are coming out of the medical field. There’s lots of new medical discoveries and innovations that can terminate the organ shortage crisis. From creating stem cells to 3D printing and going through the regular route of organ donations, patients can receive their transplants within a reasonable time period. There are benefits and there's also defects that can be found in any medical innovation. Scientists are always problem-solving to find solutions to help extend human life. This allows scientists to experiment and improve their research techniques. With so many lives at stake, the race to solve the organ shortage is on. Since the new discovery of xenotransplantation, and finding solutions to help extend this idea. Xenotransplantation is one of the many astounding medical advancements in history and can change the course of science in the future. Human life is precious and needs to be examined profoundly. All lives come at a high cost and should be

“Through the isolation and manipulation of cells, scientists are finding ways to identify young, regenerating ones that can be used to replace damaged of dead cells in diseased organs. This therapy is similar to the process of organ transplant, only the treatment consists of the transplantation of cells rather than organs. The cells that have shown by far the most promise of supplying diseased organs with healthy cells are called stem cells.” (Chapter Preface)

Around the globe, organ transplant waiting lists are overflowing with people who will never be able to receive the organs they need to survive. War veterans, accident victims, and those who have succumb to the loss of a limb from some other means endure a profoundly impaired quality of life. At the same time, several animal species are able to inconsequentially endure similar situations because of their remarkable inherent ability to fully regenerate many parts of their body. This ability to regenerate damaged or completely lost tissues and organs is greatly coveted by our species and has been the subject of scientific scrutiny for more than a century. Although the mechanisms responsible for this capability are being discovered and mapped at increasingly accelerated rates, much work is left to be done towards solidifying a thorough understanding of regeneration, let alone applying this knowledge to regenerative medicine.

Stem cell therapy has helped researchers learn more about the growth of human cells and their development Stem cell therapy has many medical benefits. Researcher found a way to use stem cell to clone animals and organs. Stem cell therapy shows unlimited potential in the treatment of a number of conditions like Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injuries, Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, cancer, diabetes and possible organ failure. Stem cell research will allow scientists to test a number of potential medicines and drugs without continuing experimental test on animals and humans. The drug can be tested on a population of cells directly.

Stem cell therapy, also known as regenerative medication, has been an increasingly utilized therapy in recent years. The cells added to the body interact with the surrounding body, making the regenerative process available to begin the healing process of the cells at the site (R. (2014)). These therapies are used to heal common sport injuries such as a knee injury, diseases, arthritis, and many other crippling effects that may occur in the human body (R. (2014)). Many of the stem cells that are used from the therapies can come from bone marrow, fat,and blood from the patient or even cells from more controversial areas such human embryos. Stem cell therapy has shown a lot of promising effects, not only outshining the effects of prescription medicine given out to patients from doctors, but it has also shown that the therapy has long term effects than a steroid would have had.

Stem Cells have the ability to renew themselves and even produce specialized cells. Because of their diversity, scientists

Supporters of this argument assert that stem cell research can lead to discovering of many advanced cell-based treatments and have many medical applications. Stem cells can be cultured and transplanted into damaged body part for the regeneration of healthy tissue (Stöppler, 2014). Based on the some of the successful outcomes of the research, hematopoietic stem cell transplants (commonly known as a bone marrow transplant) are currently be used to treat patients with blood disorders and some solid tumours (Stem Cell Network, 2013). Hence, it is believed that, more life-saving treatments will be inventing in the near future with the

The goal of regenerative medicine is to restore function through therapy at levels such as the gene, cell, tissue, or organ. For stem cells, physicians will obtain a patient’s own stem cells by aspirating tissue from the patient’s hip bone or from their fat cells. These cells are centrifuged down to identify and separate specific primitive cells that will help heal tissues (Alessandri et al., 2004). For PRP, a patient’s own blood is used and centrifuged down to obtain healing growth factors and the platelets (Pantou et al., 2012). These are rich in protein to help stimulate healing. Once these products are obtained, doctors are able to re-introduce them into the patient’s injured tissues. Regeneration of tissues and ligaments have accomplished significant improvement in patient outcomes without surgical intervention.

Researchers have been conducting studies that could bring us closer to a breakthrough in regenerative medicine. Scientifically, regeneration means the process of regrowth of damaged or lost tissue. When the human body has become fully matured, around the age twenty-five human organs, such as the liver can be regenerated. If any damage is caused to the liver it is capable of regenerating itself, although it may not fully return to its original state. Our skin can also be classified as undergoing regeneration, as it is continually being renewed through peeling. Although humans are capable of a small form of regeneration we are incapable of regenerating complex organs with complete function after surgery or amputation. With that said, this information has lead me to question whether or not scientific technology is able to trigger tissue regeneration within the human body?

(Thomson JA et al, 1998). In 2006, scientists went a step ahead by figuring out certain circumstances under which specialised adult cells could be genetically “reprogrammed” to suppose a stem liked form. This innovative kind of stem cell is called the induced Pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). (Klimanskaya et al 2006). Stem cells are of immense importance for living beings for various reasons. In blastocyst, which is a 3 to 5 days old embryo, the internal cells bring improvements in the structure of the organism entirely, inclusive of many types of cells and body organs like skin, eggs, lungs, heart, and other tissues. Separate amounts of adult stem cells in adult tissues like muscle, bone marrow, and the brain, bring in replacements for those cells which are damaged or lost due to injuries, usual wear and tear, or other diseases. (Haider, HKh; Ashraf, M, 2005). Due to their distinctive ability to regenerate, stem cells have the potential to treat illness like heart diseases or diabetes. However, a lot research and experiments are still needed to identify the ways in which these stem cells can effectively be used for cell based therapies to overcome these diseases, also known as regenerative medicine. (Goldstein, Ron 2007). The body of knowledge regarding cell development has considerably furthered due to research into the field. Light has been shed on how single organism develops and how damaged cells

Lately, there is an emerging innovation whereby organs are created to form and increase in size by a process of inorganic accretion, from the patient’s cell. This field of medicine is known as the regenerative medicine. In addition to this, there are basically various types of regenerative medical