At the Wake Forest Centre for Regenerative Medicine in North Carolina, what was once considered science fiction is happening in every lab. Printing skin, bioengineering kidneys, building organs. The day is coming when human organs and tissues will be manufactured on demand, grown from the patient’s own cells. This would solve the two biggest hurdles in transplant medicine – the supply of available organs and eliminate the ongoing risks of toxic drugs to control rejection. At Wake Forest, there are 300 researchers working on dozens of projects in regenerative medicine.
One project involves taking unusable donor kidneys, cleansing them of old cells, and re-seeding them with new cells from the recipient. About 20% of the available donor kidneys are not used for transplant because they aren’t in good condition. By “manufacturing” bioengineered organs, this could help alleviate long wait lists for donor kidneys.
Dr. Anthony Atala’s Ted talk on printing human organs:
The Transplant Research Foundation of BC is holding a public information session on the latest developments in transplant research on Monday, December 2nd. The Breakfast with Champions starts at 7:30am. Admission is free but registration is required.
Part 1 – The search for a cure
Part 2 – Unlocking the secrets of the immune system
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