Regenerative Medicine at the McGowan Institute is leading the charge to develop the Artificial Heart, Artificial Blood, and a Bioartificial Liver among other regenerative discoveries.
Source: http://www.abiomed.com
Regenerating Body Parts: A “Magic” Dust – Extra Cellular Matrix
To create the powder, the pig cells are spun, dried and mashed. When the material is placed over a wound, the stem cells circulating in the body recognize the empty matrix and begin moving into the area. The matrix then signals the stem cells to differentiate into whatever specific cells are needed to “heal” the area. For example, placing the powder next to a bone spurs the development of bone cells. Near a vessel, the power stimulates the growth of cells that form new vessels.
Growing Miracles – CBS
Part 2
Currently, the only way to replace lost body parts is to use donor tissue/organs or a man-made prosthesis. But scientists are getting closer to developing natural replacements.
Researchers with the Pittsburgh Tissue Engineering Initiative have developed a special “powder” they are testing as a springboard for the growth of lost tissue. The powder is made from extracellular matrix (ECM), a type of tissue taken from a pig’s bladder. ECM is a supporting scaffold secreted by cells. It’s made of protein fibers (collagen, elastin, fibrillin, fibronectin and laminin) and proteoglycans (a protein core with attached chains of polysaccharide molecules). The ECM regulates cell division and growth, survival and differentiation of stem cells into specific types of cells.
Source: http://www.mirm.pitt.edu
