Topic > Tissue Engineering and Stem Cells

Evolved in the late 1980s, tissue engineering has now promised to enhance, repair and replace damaged cells. The field of tissue engineering is rapidly growing with the advancement of technology and is becoming an important part of the biotechnology and medical industry. This type of engineering mainly links cellular and molecular biology with mechanical and chemical engineering. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering describes tissue engineering as a field evolved from biomaterials and the practice of combining scaffolds, cells, and biologically active molecules into functional groups. The ultimate goal is to restore, repair, improve or replace damaged tissue or in some cases even the entire organ. Approved by the Food and Drug Administration, artificial skin and cartilage are some examples of engineered human tissues. Regenerative medicine is a field that not only incorporates tissue engineering but also includes research into self-healing; the body uses its own systems sometimes with foreign biological material to recreate cells and rebuild tissues and organs. Although this field continues to evolve, we have not yet reached a stage to have a complete cure for a lesion in our body's central nervous system. Cells are called the building blocks of tissues, and tissues are the basic unit of function in the body. Cells secrete their own support structures called extracellular matrix. This matrix, also called a scaffold, not only supports the cell, but also serves as a relay station that helps signal various message molecules. Each signal can start a chain of responses that determines what would happen. Scientists understand how individual cells respond to signals, interact with the environment, and organize themselves into tissues and organs. Ongoing research focuses on manipulating these processes to repair damaged tissue and even create new artificial ones (National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering). Most treatments for damaged cells in the brain or spinal cord aim to relieve symptoms and limit further damage. Recent studies on the mechanisms of regeneration of the central nervous system, including the discovery of stem cells in the adult brain capable of regenerating themselves, have given the medical industry hope and broadened their horizon so that researchers and scientists can find ways to actually repair the damage to the central nervous system. in the mid-1990s it was learned that some parts of the human brain actually generate new neurons, at least under certain circumstances (NIH-National Institute of Health). The new neurons arise from “neural stem cells” in the fetal and also adult brains. These undifferentiated cells resemble the cells of the developing fetus that give rise to the brain and spinal cord (NIH). Research has found that these stem cells could generate most of all cell types in the brain, including message-carrying neurons. According to recent research from Johns Hopkins University, cells derived from embryonic stem cells can restore movement and sensory perception in an animal suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). This disease destroys special cells in the spinal cord, known as motor neurons because they control body movement. Patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis experience severe muscle weakness for months that eventually leads to paralysis and).