Step by step we are getting there. This approach opens the door toartificially mold absent bone and then use it as a scaffold toreplace that bone. It will no longer be necessary to build out thewhole organ or bone. We are entering the age of full scale tissueengineering and ultimately complete restoration of a human body.
At this point I see little to thwart us. What is in front of us aresolvable problems and what is behind us are formally dauntingunsolvable problems. What I find gratifying is that no one dares saynever anymore.
Even my dentist has got into the spirit of the times and I learnedrecently from him that an actual nerve is not necessary at all interms reconstructing the mouth. Here we have the technology forrebuilding a weakened jaw and adding an actual tooth bud cannot befar behind. That bit about the nerve is worth remembering as ournervous system manages the full build out of a human being. Nothaving to hook up a lot of mature nerves is a bonus. In the meantimeit is also taking little to now stimulate regrowth anyway.
As posted before, this is the penultimate decade for medical mastery. All the big problems are advancing to solution side by side.
Stem cellbreakthrough could lead to new bone repair therapies on nanoscalesurfaces
Ref: 13/2711 February 2013
http://www.southampton.ac.uk/mediacentre/news/2013/feb/13_27.shtml
Scientists at theUniversity of Southampton have created a new method to generate bonecells which could lead to revolutionary bone repair therapies forpeople with bone fractures or those who need hip replacement surgerydue to osteoporosis and osteoarthritis.
The research,carried out by Dr Emmajayne Kingham at the University of Southamptonin collaboration with the University of Glasgow and published in thejournal Small, cultured human embryonic stem cells on to the surfaceof plastic materials and assessed their ability to change.
Scientistswere able to use the nanotopographical patterns on the biomedicalplastic to manipulate human embryonic stem cells towards bone cells.This was done without any chemical enhancement.
The materials,including the biomedical implantable material polycarbonate plastic,which is a versatile plastic used in things from bullet proof windowsto CDs, offer an accessible and cheaper way of culturing humanembryonic stem cells and presents new opportunities for futuremedical research in this area.
ProfessorRichard Oreffo, who led the University of Southampton team, explains:“To generate bone cells for regenerative medicine and furthermedical research remains a significant challenge. However we havefound that by harnessing surface technologies that allow thegeneration and ultimately scale up of human embryonic stem cells toskeletal cells, we can aid the tissue engineering process. Thisis very exciting.
“Ourresearch may offer a whole new approach to skeletal regenerativemedicine. The use of nanotopographical patterns could enable new cellculture designs, new device designs, and could herald the developmentof new bone repair therapies as well as further human stem cellresearch,” Professor Oreffo adds.
The study wasfunded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council(BBSRC).
This latestdiscovery expands on the close collaborative work previouslyundertaken by the University of Southampton and the University ofGlasgow. In 2011 the team successfully used plastic withembossed nanopatterns to grow and spread adult stem cells whilekeeping their stem cell characteristics; a process which is cheaperand easier to manufacture than previous ways of working.
Dr NikolajGadegaard, Institute of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology at theUniversity of Glasgow, says: "Our previous collaborativeresearch showed exciting new ways to control mesenchymal stem cell –stem cells from the bone marrow of adults – growth anddifferentiation on nanoscale patterns.
“This newSouthampton-led discovery shows a totally different stem cell source,embryonic, also respond in a similar manner and this really starts toopen this new field of discovery up. With more research impetus, itgives us the hope that we can go on to target a wider variety ofdegenerative conditions than we originally aspired to. This result isof fundamental significance."
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