A Research Study On Regenerative Medicine - 1220 Words

Aging, injuries and diseases like dystrophies are all ensue respectively from dying, damaged or malfunctioning specialised cells. Nowadays, researchers aim at finding possible methods to treat patients by understanding better how diseases develop. Regenerative medicine is an emerging field that had known incredible advances over the last 20 years. It’s a broad interdisciplinary field aiming at repairing, regenerating or replacing damaged, malfunctioning or missing cells and tissues leading to restore normal function in patients. The remarkable progresses made in stem cell therapy, gene therapy and bioengineering, and the intersection of these domains are the basis of this developing (promising, emerging, evolving, blooming) medicine†¦show more content†¦The basis of tissue engineering involves the production of stem cell, progenitor or precursor cells from embryonic or adult origin, which will induce the regeneration of tissues and organs. The following step is to cre ate biocompatible matrices or scaffolds for the conduction of the signal. These matrices or scaffolds must be able to sustain cell proliferation and differentiation as well as the vascular ingrowth and the unification the new tissue with the surrounding host tissue. Additionally, they must have the capacity to adequately degrade concurrent with tissue regeneration. Then, the induction of growth factors or signalling proteins will activate the proliferation and differentiation of the stem cells. Finally the mechanical stimulation by biochemical forces like shear or strain. Scaffolds can be made in different types of materials like bioceramics, membrane, fibres, foams hydrogels†¦ Another approach of regenerative medicine is the possibility to grow tissues and organs in the laboratory directly from the patient’s cells and implanting them in case the body cannot heal itself; thus, avoiding problems of organs available for donation and transplant rejection. The term â€Å"regeneration† is therefore used to describe the process of replacing the loss of specialized tissue by proliferating undamaged specialized cells. The finality of this medicine is to imitate nature’s capacity avoiding a maximum of