Regenerative Medicine free essay sample

Regenerative medicine is the process of creating living, functional tissues to replace or repair tissue or organs that are damaged. This is a relatively new process and can promote rejuvenation in previously irreparable organs. The process begins by taking adult stem cells from a damaged organ or tissue sample, and combining them with an organic structure so the cells may replicate the organ or tissue that they originated from. Each cell has its own chemical make-up which will predetermine its eventual fate – thus a stem cell from a liver will begin the foundations for a new liver, whilst skin stem cells will grow to produce more skin. Regenerative medicine is key to the advancement of emergency medical procedures and the eventual eradication of chronic organ diseases. Organ and tissue transplantation has come a long way since the first confirmed successful kidney transplant in 1954. Since then, doctors have been able to transplant a wide array of organs including hearts, livers, pancreases, and lungs as well as live donor lung and liver transplants. We will write a custom essay sample on Regenerative Medicine or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In Australia at any given time there are at least 1700 people on the Australian organ transplant waiting list, and the average wait for a transplant can be up to four years (Donation statistics, 2011). In 2009, 799 Australians received donated organs, although this seems like a high number it still leaves at least 900 people desperately waiting for organs (Organ Donor Register, 2011). Regenerative medicine has the ability to create and replace tissues in the body that have lost their ability to work proficiently due to disease, damage, or age. With correct implementation, organ donors may not be required in the future and patients will only need their own stem cells to regrow new organs and tissues. This may mean that each person has the potential to self-sufficiently replace their own organs if diseased or damaged. A benefit of being able to produce a new organ using the recipient’s cells is that there would be a much lower risk of transplant rejection. Transplant rejection occurs when a transplanted organ or tissue is rejected by the body of the recipient as the recipient’s body identifies the organ as a foreign bject. The immune system subsequently attempts to destroy the organ, bringing about widespread inflammation and the eventual removal of the organ to ensure that the wellbeing of the patient is not compromised (Transplant Rejection, 2009). This risk would be diminished if the new organ was grown from the recipient’s own stem cells, as their body would recognise markers on the new tissue, and a ccept the organ as â€Å"non-foreign†. The principles behind regenerative medicine are relatively simple. Stem cells are extracted from the tissue of concern – these cells are then activated using growth factors and grown on an organic matrix or structure until a complete organ is developed. There have been remarkable instances of this procedure’s success – such as the American man, Lee Spievak, who lost the tip of his finger in a toy plane accident. The tissue of his fingertip was severed right down to the bone. In Mr Spievak’s case, the lining of a pig’s bladder was used to derive an extracellular matrix to form the basis of his new finger. By cleaning the lining of the pig’s bladder (using acid) and dehydrating the resultant tissue, a powder was obtained which contained the signals required for constructive remodelling, without the stimuli for scar tissue formation. This powder could then be placed on his wounded area and support the growth of new functional tissue, instead of scarring (The Man Who Grew Back His Finger Tip, 2008). This technique may be utilised slightly differently to replace a complete organ by adding the individual’s own cells to extracellular matrix obtained from pig sources. The cells react to the matrix and reproduce just like a growing embryo develops organs and tissue. Once structure growth is complete the organ can replace the patient’s damaged or diseased organ without fear of rejections (as the entire organ is made up wholly of the patient’s cells). A recent innovation of regenerative medicine is aimed at burn victims. Patients with severe burn scars are more susceptible to disease and infection; therefore all scars should be covered as quickly as possible. If left untreated the resultant scarring can be horrific and painful and current treatment can consist of skin grafts that can take months to heal. â€Å"Spray-on skin† is an innovation which applies skin cells to the wound to promote healing of the injured area. This is made possible through the collection of a patient’s healthy skin stem cells and the addition of them to a water based solution. This solution is then placed in a spray gun applicator – â€Å"skin-cell gun† – and the solution is sprayed over the patients wound. The wound is then covered with a dressing which promotes growth until fully healed. This technology has been successfully implemented in a number of patients, including one who had extensive second-degree burns to his arm, shoulder, neck and the side of his face. Following the application of this technology, his wounds closed over within four days (Regenerative Medicine, 2011). Regenerative medicine promises enormous potential for further development. Despite being a relatively new method of treatment, regenerative medicine trials have already began in many new fields of medicine. In Korea a patient who had suffered a spinal cord injury and hadn’t walked in 19 years was able to walk on her own, without difficulty after a suspension of her own stem cells was injected into the damaged part of her spinal cord. Other potential treatments in development include those for brain damage, cancer, heart damage, baldness, blindness, diabetes, and infertility, as well as countless others being trialled around the world. However, there are aspects of regenerative medicine that critics suggest are not yet thoroughly trialled. As induced regeneration happens faster than normal growth, there is speculation that it may quicken the development of cancer or a induce a cellular chain reaction. These fears sprout from suggestions that there is not enough in-depth understanding of this new technology, and that it is developing quicker than scientific knowledge can keep up (Regenerative Medicines Second Wave, 2010). There is no doubt that the health system currently calls for a better solution for tissue regeneration, and a more reliable alternative to human organ donation. The field of regenerative medicine provides just this. Not only have the merits of regenerative medicine been shown – in repairing damaged tissues, rebuilding entire organs and providing emergency tissue growth when the patency of the body’s barrier is lost – its potentials are limitless. Further development of this field will be essential to the cure of currently permanent disease states, not limited to: paralysis from spinal cord damage, kidney failure, chronic lung disease and liver failure. Regenerative medicine free essay sample Regenerative medicine Is the process of replacing or regenerating human cells, tissues or organs to restore or establish normal function. It can be used for many things by many different techniques. It can benefit many different people in many different ways. Regenerative medicine replaces/repairs tissues that the body cannot repair on its own. This includes things such as organs like kidneys; if one needs to be removed we may be able to replace/repair It. Regenerative medicine can save lives and be a lot more useful than average people may think it Is. Using state of the arc technology we may be able to prevent organ transplant rejection due to the fact that we can grow the organ from the patients owns cells/tissue. Current estimates say that approximately one in three Americans can benefit from regenerative medicine. Stem cells are used a lot in regenerative medicine. The stem cells are what are used to create the organ in the lab. We will write a custom essay sample on Regenerative medicine or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The scientists first take the stem cells and place them and a model for them to grow on. Once the stem cells have grown and formed tissues around the mold they add what the organ needs to do its function. They then end electrical signals to bring the organ to life, like a heartbeat, almost as if they are reviving it. This has the potential of saving millions of lives in the long run, maybe even billions, or eventually trillions if mankind last that long. Of course technology will advance and there will be dfferent techniques and approaches for regenerative medlclne, but technology Is developing faster than ever in the past 100 years, so we may not be as far away from achieving great things as you might think. Say someone needs a new bladder, but no bladders that match them are currently available. Well with regenerative medicine we can create a new bladder in a hopefully short period of time with the tissues and cells of the person who needs the bladder. Therefor there will be no shortage of organs and no problems regarding the body rejecting the organ anyways. The only downside of this Is that growing tissues and cells takes time. So, If the patient needs a new bladder Immediately, growing one will not be an opuon because It will not grow fast enough In time for the person to live. But I see that there are three solutions. Solution one is that people could regularly visit their octor to be sure nothing is wrong, so if something is wrong we may be able to notice it before Its too late. Solution two is that in the future we can only hope that technology will be advanced enough for us to speed up the growth of these tissues, this will help In situations where the patients does not have a lot of time. The third solution Is that If we have the materials needed, we could eventually create enough organs with enough different tissues that nine times out of ten, one of the organs will match. I believe that any of these three solutions could work, but they ingredient to chieving this is time and effort. This is why I feel like more people should be choosing careers in science. It is very interesting and can help benefit all humans on the plant in the long run. So If more people worked with regenerative medicine who knows what the limits could be. Fasclnatlon wltn ty to regenerate tlssues ana organs nas exlstea slnce mankind first realized that it is possible (This was thousands of years ago, even though they couldnt really do anything and the term regenerative medicine was not used). Long before the term Regenerative Medicine was came up with, humans were ealizing the effects and capabilities of medicinal intervention. The Ancient Civilizations of Sameria, Egypt, China, India, and South America all pioneered medical discoveries and techniques that still impact the field today. Practices that we take for granted, such as cleansing and debridement of wounds using vegetable and mineral concoctions were common. Hundreds of scientists and philosophers over thousands of years have worked to establish our current technologies. The early 1800s saw a huge expansion in the fields of biology and medicine when scientists revealed that all ife depends on chemical reactions that occur within cells, which could, in fact, be reproduced in the laboratory. The discovery and official introduction of antibiotics by Alexander Flemming in 1928 changed the field of health-care forever. Followed shortly after by the discovery of cell division and heritability in the form of a helical, ladder-like structure, called DNA, science was geared to bring a whole other ball game. These discoveries meant that human biology and the systems contained within could now be brought into and manipulated in the laboratory. As the turn of he 20th century hit, previously mystical processes of life science finally become tangible. Regenerative medicine has grown from prior activities including surgery, surgical implants (artificial hips), and increasingly sophisticated bio-material scaffolds (skin grafts). The work that truly launched regenerative medicine into a tangible area of science began as cell therapy. Work in the field of transplantation in the mid-1950s gave rise to some of the first therapeutic surgeries in medicine. Performed on identical twins, the first kidney transplant occurred in 1954 followed by he first liver and lung transplants in 1963, pancreas transplant in 1966, and the first heart transplant in 1967. Bone marrow transplants for treatment of leukemia patients had the public and scientific communities in an uproar of excitement. Following this wave of enthusiasm, cell biologists began to question the capabilities of the integrity of the tissues being transplanted and wondered whether it was possible to create, grow, and harvest these tissues in the laboratory. Thus began the era of Tissue Engineering which has lead us into the field of Regenerative Medicine. Cell therapy is a therapy in which cellular material is injected into a patient. Cell therapy originated in the nineteenth century when scientists experimented by injecting animal material in an attempt to prevent and treat illness. Although such attempts produced no positive benefit, further research found in the mid twentieth century showed that human cells could be used to help prevent the human body rejecting transplanted organs, leading in time to successful bone marrow transplantation. Today two distinct categories of cell therapy are recognized. The first ategory is cell therapy in mainstream medicine. This is the subject of intense research and the basis of potential therapeutic benefit. Such research, especially when it involves human embryonic material, is controversial. The second category is in alternative medicine, and perpetuates the practice of injecting animal materials in an attempt to cure disease. This practice, according to the American Cancer Society, Is not DacKea Dy any mealcal evidence 0T erectlveness, ana can nave aea01y consequences.