The Future Is Here Today...Robots, Genetics, AI, Longevity, Singularity

Growing Organs in the Lab

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by Drew Halley on June 8th, 2009

Why transplant an organ when you can grow yourself a new one?

lab-grown-bladder-atala

A homegrown bladder (Photo courtesy of BBC)

This research isn’t something that might happen in the distant future.  It’s being used today to grow fresh organs, open up new ways to study disease and the immune system, and reduce the need for organ transplants. Organ-farming laboratories are popping up across the planet, and showing impressive results. Here we look at the state of the union of a rapidly advancing field called tissue engineering: what’s been accomplished so far, and what’s right around the corner.

Patients who undergo organ transplants require loads of toxic drugs to suppress their immune systems; otherwise their body might reject the organ. But tissue engineering could make organ transplants a thing of the past. By using a patient’s cells to grow new types of tissue in the lab, researchers are finding new ways to custom-engineer you new body parts by using your own cells.

At the cutting edge of organ engineering is Tengion, a clinical-stage biotech company based outside of Philadelphia. Their most successful research to date led to the creation of the Neo-Bladder. Tengion takes some of your cells and grows them in culture for five to seven weeks around a biodegradable scaffold. When the organ is ready, it can be transplanted without the need to suppress the patient’s immune system (because the organ was grown from the patient’s own cells, it carries no risk of rejection). Once the organ is in, the scaffold degrades and the bladder adapts to its new (old) home.

The Tengion Neo-Bladder is in Phase II testing, meaning that they have already implanted the organ into individuals and studied how the body adapts to it.  After 5 years, the company was able to show that the homegrown organs are safe and effective, capable of treating the bladder effects of spina bifida (a neural tube defect that effects bladder function, among other things). After another round of Phase II trials, Tengion will move on to Phase III testing; after that, the Neo-Bladder should be approved and be made commercially available.

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Tissue Regenerating Foams and Gels Under Development

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by Keith Kleiner on March 23rd, 2009

gel_foam_inject_woundImagine healing from a serious tissue wound after only a few days or weeks simply by injecting it with tissue regenerating foam or gel.  Singularity Hub has learned that the tissue regeneration industry, including leading player Cook Biotech, is hard at work to achieve this exciting goal.

Readers may recall our story from a few months ago covering Cook Biotech’s awesome family of tissue regeneration products marketed under the Biodesign name.  These sheets of pig derived bio-material, known as acellular matrix, can greatly enhance the body’s ability to regenerate healthy, lasting tissue when inserted into wounds from burns, gashes, or surgery.

Today Cook has announced that a 5 year study has verified the long term strength and durability of Biodesign treated hernias.  The study, administered by Morris E. Franklin, Jr., MD, et. al, of the Texas Endosurgery Institute, San Antonio, Texas, followed the progress of 116 patients, and was published in Surgical Endoscopy in September 2008.

Although the announcement from Cook further validates the effectiveness of sheets of biomaterial as tissue regeneration substrates, foams and gels may offer increased flexibility and control with their ability to take on any shape and squeeze into any opening.  No word on when these foams and gels will come to market, but we can confirm that they are in development and we will be watching closely for updates.

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Many people don’t realize it, but sheets of pig derived acellular matrix like Cook’s Biodesign, as well as competitor Lifecell’s  cadaver derived Alloderm, are making major inroads in the field of tissue repair.  These tissue regeneration products have been used to treat at least 2 million patients worldwide, aiding in the regeneration of tissue for hernias, large wounds, plastic surgery, colon and rectal surgery, and a slew of other applications.

As is often the case with new technologies, adoption can be slow and doctors may be hesitant to consider these amazing tissue generating materials for treatment.  Readers should keep this in mind in the unfortunate event that they need to heal from a serious wound.

Cook Biotech Offers Stunning Tissue Regeneration Capability

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by Keith Kleiner on September 17th, 2008

Surgeon Holding Biodesign MatrixThe Short:

It still seems like science fiction to many, but for more than a decade now mankind has had the technology to regenerate human tissue to repair large or complex wounds resulting from burns, gashes, and surgery.

Earlier we reported on a product from Lifecell called Alloderm that is one of the leaders in this space. Today we would like to introduce you to Cook Biotech, another player in the fascinating field of tissue regeneration medicine. Cook Biotech offers a family of tissue regeneration products that it markets under the name of Surgisis Biodesign.

Cook’s Biodesign family of products have been used to treat nearly one million patients worldwide, aiding in the regeneration of tissue for hernias, large wounds, plastic surgery, colon and rectal surgery, and a slew of other applications.

I found an excellent article here that clearly explains the Biodesign product for those of us that are not tissue experts. Also, here is a clean, short description of Biodesign from the Purdue Research Park. A few cool quotes follow:

“Once in place, Surgisis Biodesign provides a scaffold-like structure and communicates with the body, signaling surrounding tissue to grow across the scaffold. Over time, Surgisis Biodesign is remodeled into fully vascularized tissue, and becomes as strong as the patient’s own tissue. As part of the complete healing process the scaffold is slowly replaced by human tissue and becomes undetectable — providing a permanent repair without a permanent material.”

“According to the American Association of Tissue Banks, one of 20 people will need some sort of soft tissue transplant in their lifetime.”

The Long:

The human body is great at healing itself in the case of small wounds or incisions, but in the case of a severe burn or surgery, the wound is simply too large or complex for the body to regenerate the required tissue properly. For these situations you need a product like Biodesign, which is a thin sheet (called matrix) that serves as a scaffold for new skin to grow and regenerate upon. In the past, synthetic materials such as nylon have been used as a scaffold. These materials are quite limited in their ability to help new tissue grow, are highly susceptible to infection, and stay in the body forever which can cause future complications for the patient. Cook Biotech’s Biodesign product represents a new generation of products based on biological materials that are more capable and more versatile than the synthetic products of the past.

Surgisis Biodesign is a porcine (pig) derived acellullar matrix that can be purchased in different sizes and with different properties based on the desired application. The Biodesign acellular matrix is tissue taken from a very special part of a pig’s intestine that has had its cells removed, leaving behind a valuable collection of proteins, chemical signals, and structural material that human skin cells can populate and vascularize.

Inserting matrix derived from pigs into your body might seem a bit creepy, but keep in mind that the other major competitor in this market, Alloderm, comes from human cadavers! Whether from pigs or cadavers, these matrix products have an amazing ability to help the body regenerate tissue and they have saved or greatly benefited the lives of millions of people. Acellular matrix is a very safe product: it is sterilized through a vigorous process and devoid of any potentially harmful cells, dna, or microbes that may have resided in the originating host.

An advantage of the porcine based matrix from Biodesign is that it is cheaper and the supply is virtually unlimited as compared to human cadaver based solutions such as Alloderm. In order to be more competitive on price and quantity of supply Lifecell has recently launched a porcine based product called Strattice to compete with Cook Biotech’s Biodesign, yet Biodesign appears to be leaps and bounds ahead of Strattice. The secret behind the success of Biodesign is that it comes from a very special part of the pig’s intestine (submucosa) that has just the right chemical makeup to serve as an incredible tissue regeneration matrix in humans. Strattice, on the other hand, is obtained from pig dermis (skin) and although logically it seems as though this should be a superior strategy, it turns out that pig dermis is not nearly as versatile or as effective as intestinal submucosa when it comes to creating the ideal matrix.

Image of Surgeon Holding Biodesign Matrix, Source
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