We can rebuild him. We have the technology. Ok, it's not the bionic man, but tissue engineering is changing the face of medicine. It applies the principles of engineering and life sciences to grow bones, cartilage, blood vessels, bladders and even print organs. What does tissue engineering entail and what does it promise for the future of medicine? This Wide Angle series on Tissue Engineering will explore those questions and more.
- News: Lightning Helps Create Artificial Blood Vessels
An electrically charged block of plastic gives way to a series of tunnel-carving lightning bolts when a nail is driven into it. Adding human blood vessel cells to the tunnels could create a template upon which an artificial organ could grow.
- News: New Artificial Bone Made of Wood
A new procedure to turn blocks of wood into artificial bones has been developed by Italian scientists, who plan to implant them into large animals, and eventually humans.
- Blog: Artificial Parts Reduce Animals Testing
Whether you're against animal testing or not, at a certain point other mammals can't stand in for humans; body metabolism and other biological functions aren't identical. Biologists in Germany hope the artificial organs they're developing can do the job instead.
- Top 10: Engineered Body Parts
Scientists are making breakthrough discoveries on how to create artificial body parts, everything from bionic bones to makeshift knees.
- Video: Engineering Tissue
Regrowing skin, bones and even organs might seem like something out of a mad scientist's lab, but the reality isn't so crazy. Jorge Ribas finds out how tissue engineering could help the sick and injured.
- Video: Mouse Grows Human Ear
American scientists successfully produced and attached a human ear to the back of a mouse. Doctors believe similar mold transplants will help humans regrow their own organs.
- Video: Self-Healing Technology
Scientist Kristi Anseth works at the intersection of three fields - engineering, chemistry, and biology -- to design polymers that imitate living tissues, with the goal of helping the body heal itself.
