Imagine a world where we actually cure and heal deadly diseases and genetic conditions, rather than merely treating the symptoms. What about a world where those who need organ transplants could receive a life-saving organ to replace their defective one, but with no worry their body would reject the new organ? These scenarios can become reality with regenerative medicine.
Regenerative Medicine – Creating a Space for Hope
Regenerative medicine relates to a branch of science that seeks to create living, functioning tissues that physicians can use to repair or replace tissue or organ damage occurring because of age, injury, disease, or genetic defects. It’s a game-changing field with the potential to fully heal formerly irreparable organs and tissues. This potential brings with it a dose of hope for those with conditions that today’s evidence-based palliative treatments cannot repair.
You may think of regenerative medicine as a new discipline, bordering on outlandish science fictional notions. But it isn’t new. Decades ago, physicians performed the first bone marrow and organ transplants. So, even though it’s not new, recent advances have opened up new opportunities to greatly improve existing therapies and innovate new ones. The advances that have, once again, brought regenerative medicine to the forefront fall in the areas of:
- Immunology
- Developmental biology
- Cell biology
- Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cells – What’s Next?
“Stem cells” refers to progenitor cells that have potential to develop into a variety of different tissues. Much of the research involves working with pluripotent stem cells, meaning these particular stems can develop into any of the cell types in the body. They cannot, however, develop into an entirely new body. Pluripotent stem cells come from embryonic tissue. Adult stem cells, found in the adult body, are multipotent, which means they can develop into a wide array of tissues, but not all tissues.
Researchers are currently working with stem cells in an effort to stimulate a person’s damaged organs into healing themselves. One way scientists are doing this involves extracting stem cells from an individual and growing them in the lab. Once an adequate number has grown, scientists inject them back into the person they came from.
Up until now, transplant therapy has focused on replacement. If you have a liver condition that will prove fatal if you don’t receive a new one, doctors will replace it with a donor liver. If you have a defective heart valve, surgeons will replace it with an artificial valve or a valve from an animal, such as a pig. These procedures, while certainly life-saving, have a myriad of potential issues for the patient. Regenerative medicine brings hope to the table in that if scientists can stimulate your body to regenerate your own tissue to repair the damage or defect, there will be virtually zero chance of rejection.
The field of regenerative medicine is advancing rapidly; and in the near future, we’ll see significant developments in a number of areas, including therapies for Crohn’s disease, heart disease, blood disease, neural conditions, the eyes, diabetes, and others.
The US Department of Health and Human Services refers to regenerative medicine as the “next evolution of medical treatments” and I tend to agree with them. What do you want to build today?