Regenerative Medicine

Regenerative medicine is using stem cells to regenerate tissues or organs that are damaged or destroyed. The vision is to develop therapies that can endlessly replace body parts and organs as they fail. In the long term, the only organ which cannot be replaced in principle with this approach is the brain, which contains highly specific information in the neural connections.

How It Works
Regenerative medicine generally works by removing tissue from the patient, isolating stem cells, culturing them, then re-implanting them in a specific area to promote cell growth. Another approach is to apply extra-cellular matrix (ECM) to encourage natural healing. This has been used to regrow severed fingertips.

Researchers

 * Dr. Anthony Atala


 * Dr. Stephen Badylak