Kevin Stocking Human Biology Spring 2014 TED Talk Reflection 1 Tissue and organ regeneration is a science that

in the time span of medicine has not been around that long. However, it did begin a few decades ago and the reason it is not a prominent medical practice today is that progress is slow due to its complexity. Dr. Anthony Atala begins his TED Talk presentation reflecting on the now common practice of organ transplantation and the shortage of available organs due to an increased demand with no increase in donated organs. This creates the startling fact he presents that every 30 seconds a patient dies from diseases that could have been treated with tissue or organ replacement. As a remedy that is now well researched and published about, Dr. Atala begins talking about stem cells and their use in re-growing damaged tissues by means of programming cells to regenerate a certain type of body tissue. Without any medical interference, our bodies do naturally regenerate some tissues on a regular basis such as bones and skin. The problem is that when an injury or disease occurs, the body cannot rapidly regenerate on a large enough scale to be effective. This is where science comes in with several other methods other than just the use of stem cells. The first method of artificial regeneration Dr. Atala talks about is the use of smart biomaterials. These smart biomaterials act as a bridge to fill short gaps of damaged tissue, connecting healthy regenerating tissue so that it may grow across that bridge and become functional again. The limitation of this method that he mentions is that this can only be used for very short distances, typically about a centimeter or less. That is due to the bodys natural limitation of regenerating and healing. When regeneration of a much longer distance of tissue such as a whole organ is required, there is a slightly different method that has been developed.

This fascinating alternative of re-growing an organ actually occurs outside the body in a lab. Scientists use complex cloth-like structures called scaffolds to place and grow cells on. The scaffolds are first formed into the shape of the needed organ. Then cells taken from a small piece of the patients actual damaged organ are grown in the lab and thus, the cells are the exact cell type needed to regrow the organs tissue. This eliminates the need to push the cells to become a certain cell type, which is needed when using stem cells. These cells are then placed onto the scaffold material layer by layer for a period of 6 to 8 weeks and are kept in an environment just like the human body. Often organs contain more than one cell type and so different cells are placed on the scaffold coordinated to where they should be in the organ. Throughout the time period of growth, the organ is also conditioned or exercised so that it knows what to normally do once inside the body. Once sufficient growth has occurred, the newly generated organ and scaffold together, replace the damaged organ in the body. The scaffold is a cell delivery vehicle as Dr. Atala states, so that it acts as transportation into the body and once inside the body will degrade to allow the new organ to finish growing and function normally. He states that from the start, it is important to note that the scaffold is sized and shaped to match the specific patient. Another method he sparsely refers to is 3D printing, again using the patients specific cells. The last method presented is the use of decellularized organs. This is where a donors organ is put through a series of very mild detergent baths to remove that donors cells and leave a cartilage skeleton of the vascular system behind. Cartilage can be transplanted without rejection and so this acts as the mold to then place the patients cells on, much like the scaffold. One of the most important factors that all these methods

include is that because they are the patients own cells, they will not be rejected which occurs in regular donor transplants. The technology and techniques for regenerating failing or damaged organs and tissues has come a long way but still has limitations and risks. Dr. Atala notes that it is important in this new science to research and do everything they can to perfect the process before it is ever used in living patients. A good rule for these scientists and doctors to determine if these technologies are ready for practical use is to ask themselves if they would use the technology to replace a loved ones tissue or organ. In the future of this field of study, many obstacles will arise and its crucial to overcome those and get things right before actually using the lab-created organs, for the sake of doing no harm and remaining ethical. Only just a few generations ago, a failing organ or extensive tissue damage was almost sure to cause early death. Growing new human body parts used to only exist in our wildest dreams in a world where magic could create such miracles. To think that in a relatively short time such amazingly complex and life-saving treatments have been developed is mind-boggling and truly magical. This field will undoubtedly one day save millions of lives and loved ones.

Source TED. (2009, October). Anthony Atala: Growing new organs. Retrieved February 20, 2014, from TED Talks: http://www.ted.com/talks/anthony_atala_growing_organs_engineering_tiss ue