Grow Your Own…Body Parts.
At Wake Forrest University, Dr Anthony Atala is manufacturing body parts.
Sounds to me like something out of a horror or science fiction movie but it’s not. Regenerative medicine, the ability of the body’s cells to re-grow, is making amazing breakthroughs.
And at the forefront is Dr Atala and his team. So far they have grown 18 different types of tissue from blood vessels and heart valves to muscle tissue. But their pride and joy so far is the work they have done with the human bladder.
In 2006, a patient at Thomas Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia was transplanted with a regenerated bladder from her own bladder cells which were isolated, multiplied, and seeded onto a biodegradable scaffold. The growth of the new bladder took only eight weeks.
It bodes well for a future. Doctors will be able to not only diagnose diseases, but also order replacement organs or body parts, custom made just for you, using your own cells. Amazing.
Currently thousands of people worldwide, on waiting lists for transplants, often die before they get one. With regeneration medicine, instead of waiting for a donated organ, it is hoped that they will be able to grow their own in a matter of weeks. This, of course, is still some way off. But it sure looks like it will be happening in the future.
Can I have a new, firm derriere? I have enough cells there for grafting and regenerating…
Wow, doesn’t news like this just blow your mind? Just think, some day instead of herb gardens in our window sills, we’ll have organ gardens.
“Honey, I cut my finger. Can you pick me off a new chunk of skin please? Second pot from the left. Yeah, that one. Thanks.”
Hey, you never know…
I agree…imagine the possibilities.
Liz, it’s not as far off as you may think. I work for a non profit organ/tissue bank and we have a similar process with pediatric heart valves, we remove the donor cells, leave the collagen matrix and it repopulates with the recipient cells after implantation. It’s pretty awesome.
Hey Paul, sounds like you’re in a great place to see all this awesome technology and medical research at work. It must be great to see what most of us can only read about.
hi, this ambani i would like grow my boby as well my Pennies can you help
hi this is ambani i would like to grow my hight and my pennies pls give tips
thanks
ambani
hi this is rahul iwould like grow my body as will my pennies can you help