The Bionic Body

I have just finish reading an article about two wise men named Bob Langer and his colleague Joseph Vacanti. It said that they had trouble trying to get their work published because journalist just didn't see and practical applicants in there work. Now today they are known as the fathers of the field of tissue engineering. I bet the publishers regret not writing about them in the first place. Now them and there team of researchers go around the world and make custom-made tissues for those who need them.

The first so called noe-organ was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. It stated that custom-made heart, livers, breast, corneas, bone morrow, kidneys, and bladders could offer elegant solution to the most life threatening illnesses. Thats really good for those who wait for someone to die so they can receive a transplant from them. In the later future there theory is lab grown cartilage and bone would relieve arthritis suffers while blood vessels cardiac valves and muscle tissue could save thousands of cardiovascular disease patients. In the later time line they still experiments thirty + tissues in there lab.

This a human heart grown in there lab

The first step of tissue engineering is unlocking the biochemical signals that influence growth and development. Adding the right combination of compounds scientists are able to start there growing and and proliferating. The word proliferating means to grow or multiply rapidly producing new tissue parts cells or offspring. In order to produce biologically useful tissues like cartilage and heart valves tissue engineers must pay close attention to physical environment in which cells grow.


http://www.pbs.org/saf
This video shows the tissue growing on scaffolding

The circulatory system gives each individual cell in a tissue access to nutrients and a means of waste removal. One of Mr. Langers major contribution to his file was his work in biodegradable materials that can serve as scaffolding. The video above will show that happening as it grows. Langer stated that the scaffold looks like strands of spaghetti attached together. The tissue can be custom grown for the intented recipient.  For example, to grow an ear tissue engineers mold the biodegradable scaffold into the proper size and shape. In order for this to happen they have to seed the scaffold with young cartilage cells and surgically implant the mold under the skin. This was all done on a hairless mouse. Here is a picture of it.

Once the ear is removed the mouse will not be harmed. It will remain the same.