A Growing Potential

Jeff Barnett

Current Transplant Problems

Incompatibility

Ethical

Growing Organs

Compatible

Ethical (takes 4-6 weeks)

Everyone can get one

Process Making a scaffold

Injecting Cells

Atala Ted Talk

Atala’s HierarchyDr. Anthony Atala’s Organ Growth Complexity Levels

Level Examples Description

1 Skin Flat organs

2 Windpipes, blood vessels

Slightly more complex shapes, varied collections of cells

3 Bladder, stomach Hollow, sac-like organs that must perform on demand

4 Kidneys, heart, lungs, liver

Thick, complex architecture, may different types of cells, extensive network of blood vessels

Future of Organ Growth

Level 1 and 2 in effect

Level 3 and 4 future

More Complicated

How Far in the Future?

References Atala, Anthony. "Anthony Atala: Growing New Organs." TED: Ideas worth

Spreading. N.p., Oct. 2009. Web. 13 Nov. 2012. http://www.ted.com/talks/anthony_atala_growing_organs_engineering_tissue.html.

NOONAN, DR. JESSICA, and ABC News Medical Unit. "Lab-Grown 'Custom' Organs May Be Future of Medicine." ABC News. ABC News Network, 25 June 2012. Web. 13 Nov. 2012. http://abcnews.go.com/Health/lab-grown-custom-organs-future-medicine/story?id=16631764.

"Organ Transplants - Rejection and Risks." WebMD. WebMD, 10 Jan. 2010. Web. 13 Nov. 2012. http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/organ-transplant-after-the-transplant.

Yong, Ed. "Will We Ever Grow Organs? | Not Exactly Rocket Science | Discover Magazine." Will We Ever Grow Organs? | Not Exactly Rocket Science | Discover Magazine. N.p., 28 Feb. 2012. Web. 13 Nov. 2012. <http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2012/02/28/will-we-ever-grow-organs/>.