Making New Hearts: Regenerative Medicine and its History
Introduction
A man inflicted with cirrhosis sits in the waiting room of a hospital, waiting to hear if they will be granted the liver of an organ donor. They have been on the waiting list to receive a new liver for almost six months, and if they don’t receive one soon, they will die. With so many factors related to seeing if an organ from a deceased person is compatible with the person in need, it makes receiving a new body part extremely difficult. Luckily, with advances in a new field in science called regenerative medicine, they might be able to have a new liver grown just for them, with no need to worry about whether it is compatible with their body. Regenerative medicine is a relatively new area of study, with the first know use of the word from 1992. [#] This innovative field explores the repairing of tissues or organs that the body cannot heal on
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Not only would this mean an end to organ waiting lists, this would remove the possibility of rejection of the new organ by the patient’s body, as it is made from the patient’s very own cells. In 2008, a trachea was grown and implanted with great success. [#] With already one success in a human, what possibilities could this field hold for people in need of heart transplants? Lung transplants? Numerous breakthroughs have occurred in recent years, and hopefully, the implementation of this research could very soon be successfully used in humans. New organs are being grown and researched in pigs, lab rats, and mice, with fruitful results. Not only would more success in this field prevent less pain and suffering in the world, it could very well save the lives of those who could grow up to end global