10 Year Timeline For Technology to Regenerate Tendons, Spinal Cord and Heart Valves

In not more than 10 years, a tendon, spinal cord or heart valve will be able to regenerate itself after an injury or disease, claimed a Queen's University chemical engineering professor.

Brian Amsden, along with scientists from the University of Western Ontario and University of Toronto, is currently trying to develop microscopic polymer fibres to help rebuild human tissue and speed the healing process.

Planarian Worms Could Show The Way For Tissue Regeneration
Planarian worms could show the way for tissue regeneration. For they have an amazing ability to regenerate body parts, including a head and brain, following amputation.

While using polymers to help grow muscles may sound like something out of Frankenstein, it's actually quite natural.

Amsden is trying to develop the technique where stem cells from fat are placed on a polymer prosthetic that stimulates cell growth and that is later implanted it into a person's body.

"I can't think of anything Frankensteinish about that because everything is you. The only thing that isn't you is the polymer which is biodegradable and eventually disappears, so all you have left is your own tissues," said Amsden.

Stem Cell Growth and Regeneration Promoted by Newly Identified Growth Factor
A new growth factor that stimulates the expansion and regeneration of hematopoietic (blood-forming) stem cells in culture and in laboratory animals has been identified by scientists

Tissue engineering was first proposed in mid 1980s and using polymers to help stimulate the process came about in the early 1990s so it's a fairly new field.

The impact would be huge on Canada's aging population.

Partial Liver Transplantation and Native Organ Regeneration
A technique called Auxillary partial orthotopic liver transplantation, where the original native organ regenerates after a while, with the transplanted liver destroyed slowly by body’s immune system.

Many baby boomers want to remain active as they get older and this research will allow people in their 60s and 70s to live healthier.

Source-ANI

Researchers Find Molecular Pathway for Organ Tissue Regeneration
A molecular pathway that works through the immune system to regenerate damaged kidney tissues and may lead to new therapies for repairing injury in a number of organs systems has been