What is tissue engineering?
tissue engineering is the process of growing or engineering of certain tissues found in the human body. The main purpose for tissue engineering is to replace or repair damaged tissues or organs. This process is monitored by live cells or biomaterials, such as engineering needs - similar to wood or brick is viewed by building professionals.
The tissue engineering process became possible in 1998, when scientists in Geron Corporation learned how to expand telomers. Telomers are end -slices deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) that help control cell division and prevent damage during DNA replication. The ability to expand telomers allowed scientists to create the first game cells that are constantly divided. This discovery was the main success in regenerative medicine.
Specialized scaffolding is used to support cells when they are grown into tissue. These supports are usually constructed from biodegradable materials that are able to dissolve over time to is not necessary to remove the material. The scaffolding can be built from different materials such as collagen and polyester, depending on the type of tissue. The same materials used to produce the dissolution of stitches are also used in scaffolding.
cells used as biomaterials are categorized according to their source. For example, autologous cells are harvested from an individual who needs a new tissue. For example, the burn victim may have thin parts of healthy skin cells removed from one part of the body for use in damaged areas.
Allogenic cells, on the other hand, are obtained from a donor of the same kind as the recipient. In this situation, a person with compatible tissues may be able to donate some of their tissues for use by another person. When donors and recipient are identical, such as twins or clones, cells are called isogenic. The main transplant of organs such as the heart,Kidney or liver, are examples of procedures that use allogene or isogenic materials. Cells from xenogenic source are from a different species as a recipient and are much less common.
The fifth category of cellular biomaterials, stem cells, is highly controversial. Stem cells are undifferentiated, that is, they are not yet referred to as skin cells, bone cells or muscle cells or any other type of cell that has a specific function. Stem cells have the potential to become any type of cell that is needed by the recipient. For this reason, working with stem cells is considered to be the most promising area of tissue engineering research.