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Regenerative Medicine Questions1. What is regenerative medicine? 1. What is regenerative medicine? The goal of regenerative medicine is to repair organs or tissues that are damaged by disease, aging or trauma, so function is restored or at least improved. Regenerative medicine uses clinical procedures to repair or replace damaged or diseased tissue or organs using tissue engineering, stem cell research, medical devices or a combination of these technologies to address disease and illness (McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine; www.upmc.com/Services/MIRM/Pages/regenerative -medicine.aspx). The term regenerative medicine is often used nowadays to describe medical treatments and research that uses stem cells (either adult or embryonic) to restore the function of organs or tissues. This can be achieved in different ways: first by administering differentiated stem cells from the laboratory, or by administering drugs to coax stem cells that are already present in tissues to more efficiently repair the involved tissue. 2. How does regenerative medicine differ from current medical practices? Because many diseases and injuries cannot be cured through current medicine, treatment is often confined to treating the symptoms with drugs to give the patient maximum comfort and minimal damage. As scientists are learning more and more about how the body works through stem cell research which allows them to watch tissue develop from its very earliest stage, they are using the knowledge to develop innovative cell-based treatments to help people. Through regenerative medicine scientists are learning to harness the body’s own power to regenerate itself and are focused on developing therapies that reestablish tissue and organ function damaged by trauma or disease. 3. What is cell therapy and how is it related to regenerative medicine? In regenerative medicine, cell therapy is a group of techniques to replace aged, diseased or dysfunctional cells with healthy, functioning cells derived from either embryonic or adult/tissue stem cells. Cell-based therapies are treatments in which stem cells are induced to differentiate into the specific cell types required to repair damaged or destroyed cells of tissue. These new techniques are being applied to a wide range of human diseases, including many types of cancer, neurological diseases such as Parkinson's and Lou Gehrig's disease, spinal cord injuries and diabetes. Replacing dead cells in the retina with new ones may someday cure even presently incurable eye diseases such as glaucoma and macular degeneration. Even though most of the work done in this field has been experimental, most scientists find cell therapy so promising that they believe it is only a matter of time before its use becomes routine. Bone marrow transplants are an example of cell therapy in which the stem cells in a donor's marrow are used to replace the blood cells in patients after they are treated for leukemia and other cancers. Cell therapy is also being used in experiments to graft new skin cells to treat burn victims and to grow new corneas for the sight-impaired. In all of these uses, the goal is for the healthy cells to become integrated into the body and begin to function like the patient's own cells. [Source: Stem Cell Research Foundation] 4. What are some of the challenges facing regenerative medicine? The process of identifying different types of stem cells within adult tissue is painstaking research. Then, once stem cells are identified and isolated, the right growth factors must be identified and applied to cause these stem cells to change into the desired cell type. Once the above obstacles have been overcome, new issues arise when the cells are implanted into a person. The cells must be integrated into the patient's own tissues and organs and "learn" to function in concert with the body's natural cells. Cardiac cells that beat in a cell culture, for example, may not beat in rhythm with a patient's own heart cells. And neurons injected into a damaged brain must become "wired into" the brain's intricate network of cells and their connections in order to work properly. Another challenge is tissue rejection. Just as in organ transplants, the body's immune cells may recognize transplanted cells as "foreign," setting off an immune reaction that could cause the transplant to fail. Organ recipients must take drugs to suppress their immune systems for the rest of their lives. Yet another concern is the possible risk of cancer. Cancer results when cells lose their internal "brakes" and keep dividing when further proliferation is no longer desirable. Researchers must find the delicate balance between fostering the growth of new cells to replenish damaged tissues and making sure those cells don't overgrow and become cancerous. Scientists believe that, with the appropriate research, these obstacles can be overcome. [Source: Stem Cell Research Foundation]. |
Basic Questions
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