Regenerative Medicine Regenerative medicine~ Goal: to grow replacement tissue or organs for patients who have sustained an injury or have a disease that permanently damaged their tissue. How?- from patient’s own cells Benefit?- Reduces the need for donor organs and long term use of immunosuppressant drugs. Veterinary researchers are also studying regenerative medicine for animals.

Regenerative Medicine Luke’s Story~ TED Talks( Dr. Atala) In 2011, there were 28,537 organ transplants in the US. More than 100,000 people in the US are waiting for a transplant. #1 NEED~ kidney Average # of patients who die each day while waiting on a transplant= 18

Even though a patient must take medications for the rest of their life after receiving a transplant- Doctors are searching for a way to heal patients with cell and gene therapies and grow replacement tissue organs from a patients own cells.

Background Science Tissue & Organs: Tissues are groups of similar cells performing a similar functions. Organs are made up of multiple tissues working together to perform a function.

The Extracellular Matrix~ Scaffolding The first step of building organs is to build a scaffold. Scaffold: a support structure for cells to grow and orient themselves when building replacement tissues and organs. Tissues can be decellularized (removed of all cells from extracellular matrix) Scaffolds can come from- deceased human donors, animal organs or build from synthetic biomaterial. Biomaterial: synthetic or natural materials used to replace part of a living system or function in contact with living tissue

Stem Cells Undifferentiated cells that give rise to other types of cells Many different types of stem cells found at different stages of development. As a zygote begins to grow- it is totipotent. One cell provides all that it is needed for the body Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent~ meaning they give rise to ALL other the types of cells. Adult stem cells ( somatic stem cells) are undifferentiated cells found in differentiated tissues of children and adults. They are multipotent

Stem Cells Hematpoietic (blood ) stem cells have been used for years to treat various disorders such as leukemia and lymphoma. In these cases, stem cells from the patient or donor marrow replace diseased bone marrow. Stem cells may help replace diseased tissue either by integrating with tissue and producing new cells or producing growth factors that cause the patients cells to regenerate and repair themselves. (ex. Regrowing skin on burn patient)

Stem Cells A new source of stem cells is human amniotic fluid. Derived from amniocentesis or naturally produced at birth. THEY DO NOT INVOLVE DESTROYING THE EMBRYO. They are multipotent and form all sorts of tissue.

Careers in Regenerative Medicine Scientist Molecular Biologist Cell Biologist Physiologist Pharmacologist Biomedical engineer Surgeons Veterinarians