This, my friend, is the wonders of tissue engineering a branch of biomedical engineering. Beyond that, it is the door to regenerative medicine.
As we speak, researchers in the University of Toronto Canada, The University of Manchester in UK and University of Southern California US among many others are critically examining the development and synthesis of hydrogels capable of printing bioactive and biodegradable implants that would serve as scaffolds for the regrowth of damaged body parts; serving as a substitute while the native cells grow at the same time being degraded and replaced by these growing native cells/tissues that feed on it.
@eurogee apart from deleting the need for a donor, the issue of transplant incompatibility/rejection is eradicated since the hydrogels are also fitted with cultured cells from the patient and promote the growth of native cells in the region where the transplant is implanted.
Allthough research is still ongoing, the great news is that the technology isnt that far from us anymore as cartilage transplants have already shown reasonable successes. Sadly, this technology is still miles away from Nigeria where it would have proved very useful considering the number of accidents and organ failures we record each year. Its a good one though and one which I hope to be part of sooner than later. ThumbsUp
I wish I were a whale, would have super upvoted you. Thanks for this exposition. It has given more credence to this article.
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My pleasure bro, you wrote on a topic I am passionate about and have a soft spot for. I am a biomedical engineer focusing on biotechnological advancements that would improve the potentials of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, some years back I research on pancreas regeneration for Type I diabetes victims.
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