Revisiting Hot spots in Regenerative Medicine

Engineered tissues are used to replace skin and cartilage
photo by European Medical Alliance

My last post was on three of the major places for innovations happening in the field of tissue engineering.

This week lets explore the connections to history and communication.



Stem Cells

• Historical Connection 
  Using stem cells to create and rebuild structures of the human body relates to the humanistic ideals of the Renaissance. Humanism was a movement that accentuated and focused on the amazingness that is mankind. In quite a literal sense, stem cells show that man can be the measure of all things because we as humans can use our own cells in treatments for the myriad of ailments that afflict mankind.

• Communication Connection 
  In a very serious way, the dialogue concerning stem cells has been a major factor in how they're researched and utilized in modern healthcare. The use of embryonic cells resulted in the demonization of stem cell research among pro-life media sources. While I agree it is unnecessary to destroy embryos for research, limiting other types of stem cell research because of one type of cell prevents future advancement.

3D print of a heart with human tissue at the University of Tel Aviv

Photo Courtesy of Yahoo Finance

3D Printing Biomaterials

• Historical Connections
  
  In the time of the Renaissance, the world was excited about exploration and discovery. That excitement carried over to the enlightenment era in which people began to explore the natural world at large and on the cellular level. Similar to the drive for discovering new worlds around us, people began investigating the microscopic world. The discoveries made about physical nature relating to human biology and chemistry laid a foundation for the new discoveries being made today.

• Communication Connections
  
  Interdisciplinary communication has been a driving force in this field of research. 3D print models are created using computer modeling software which requires the help of electrical engineering, computer programing, and materials developed through biochemistry, and microbiology. Open source 3D print models have also become a common part of most 3D print based industries so sharing and collaboration are a huge part of the field.

Gene therapy

• Historical Connections:
  
  The ideas of natural rights pertaining to the pursuit of happiness and human rights as being innate with birth are values endorsed in the Enlightenment. Since people have health problems that are strongly related to their genetic make-up, the argument could be made that people have a right to treatment based on their genetic make-up. If we extend enlightenment ideals of progress to the human genome, we can see the possibility of people manipulating genomes to make children more athletic, smarter, and healthier.

• Communication Connections:
  
  The communication that needs to happen with gene therapy should discuss the ethical questions of what is appropriate with the technology. As of now, gene therapy is an amazing opportunity for people to provide children a life without genetic predispositions to disease. With the recent controversy of Chinese scientists altering the genome of a fetus, new debates have sparked concerning where we should draw the lines on gene therapy. What lines do you think should be drawn?

It seems interesting to me that progress requires we push boundaries. However, in terms of gene therapy and stem cell research, one might question how far we are willing to push the boundaries for scientific advancement. It seems like a classic thought experiment where we can ask, "Can I justify doing something that's questionable or wrong now because I know in the future it will help more people than it will hurt in the present?" Personally, I think the future is a shaky basis on which to justify the morality of a decision. We can't control or determine every consequence. We can control what we do today, and decisions should be based on whether they themselves are morally correct as opposed to whether the end justifies the means.