Artificial Tissue and Organ Generation Valerie Fortin, Biomedical Engineering, University of Rhode Island

BME 281 First Presentation, October 30, 2013 <valerian@my.uri.edu>

Abstract—Scientists have developed a method to strip a given

organ of genetic material, leaving only a nonliving scaffolding

behind. This scaffolding can then be seeded with donor cells

from the intended patient to grow a new organ without concerns

of tissue rejection or donor compatability.

I. INTRODUCTION

LTHOUGH modern medicine allows for far safer and

more organ transplants than past practices did, our

current solutions are still far from ideal. The finite

nature of organ donors forces those in need of transplants to

be on a wait list, and for many, time is critical. In addition to

the simple insufficiency of numbers, organ donations are

problematic in that the donor organ must be compatible with

the recipient, and even then there is a non-zero chance of

complications from tissue rejection. Artificial tissue and

organ generation can address these issues by allowing for a

great increase in the number of available organs, as they can

be generated at will, and by using the donor’s own cells to

help grow the new organ, thus eliminating the potential for

hostile reaction of the body’s defenses.

II. METHODS

A scaffold, or sterile 3-d mold of an organ, can either be

synthetically produced or taken from a living creature and

decellularized before being seeded with the donor cells. The

cells will then grow around the scaffolding to form the new

organ, which can then be implanted into the patient.

Small scaffolds are currently used to repair blood vessels and

simple hollow organs such as the stomach or bladder.

III. RESULTS

Scientists are currently able to replicate simple structures

such as blood vessels and hollow organs with few cell layers,

but solid organs, such as the kidney, with several different

types of cells and many different cell layers continue to prove

evasive. Transplants from organs grown from the cells

provided by the intended patient show much lower rates of

rejection and are guaranteed matches for the patient,

eliminating a time-consuming and limiting aspect of organ

donation.

IV. DISCUSSION

While synthesized organs are not a currently viable

replacement for donations, they hold great promise for future

developments. They would greatly increase availability and

timeliness of organ transplants, as well as eliminating the risk

of complications due to the patient’s immune system

regarding foreign tissue as hostile, as the tissue would not be

foreign at all. Although synthetic organs would be more

accessible and friendly to the recipient, the option is under

heavy scrutiny by researchers with concerns about the

synthetic organs’ viability. It is yet to be proven that these

artificial organs, grown either on a synthetic or sterilized

organic scaffold, are equally as efficient, durable, and reliable

as a naturally grown and donated organ.

Although these concerns are valid, it is worth noting that

there have been successful transplants of artificially grown

tissue, notably the first such transplant of a windpipe into a

cancer patient who was unable to wait for a donor organ, who

regained full functionality after the operation.

While artificially grown organs may never completely

replace donations, it seems likely that they will at least

supplement, and perhaps even predominate the practice, given

time to refine the techniques and develop methods for

synthesizing more complex organs.

REFERENCES

[1] Heike Mertsching, Thorsten Walles, Michael Hofmann, Johanna Schanz, Wolfram H. Knapp, Engineering of a vascularized scaffold for artificial tissue

and organ generation, Biomaterials, Volume 26, Issue 33, November 2005,

Pages 6610-6617, ISSN 0142-9612, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biomaterials.2005.04.048.

<http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0142961205003169>

[2] NOONAN, DR. JESSICA, and ABC News Medical Unit via Good Morning America. "Lab-Grown 'Custom' Organs May Be Future of

Medicine." ABC News. ABC News Network, n.d.

<http://abcnews.go.com/Health/lab-grown-custom-organs-future-medicine/story?id=16631764>.

[3] http://www.uri.edu/hc/2011/20111004_atala_FULL.html

[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_transplantation [5]http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=137701848

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