Scientists uncovered a new method for regenerating human tissue, inspired by nature

regenerate human tissue

Birmingham researchers bring a method for regenerating human tissue. The method harnesses the body’s natural healing process to target cellular regeneration using nano-sized particles called extra-cellular vesicles.

Dr. Owen Davies, EPSRC E-TERM landscape fellow at the University of Birmingham, said, what we aim to do is to capture these vesicles, to purify them and then to exploit them as a regenerative tool. This approach opens up entirely new possibilities for the regeneration of bone, teeth, and cartilage.

Present human tissue regenerative methods have definite limitations which this new technology allows healthcare providers to avoid. Grafts taken from patients have greater risks of morbidity and often cannot meet the demands posed by some circumstances.

extra-cellular vesicle method

Bone tissue transplants from donors run the risk of rejecting by the recipient, and other methods have possible serious side-effects and prohibitive costs. The extra-cellular vesicle method allows researchers to regenerate human tissue without running into these factors.

This technology helps people who suffer with a degenerative bone disease like osteoarthritis. Still, the technology is in early stage. It will be a long time before researchers able to prove its effectiveness in humans and then get it through the regulatory process before it can administer widely.

Regenerative medicine will lead us into a new era of medical science. Diseases that difficult to battle in the past, like osteoarthritis and multiple sclerosis (MS) may finally have definitive treatments. So, patients can start to see their bodies really regenerate.

Long-term goals of this emerging field could also see the beginnings of humanity finding the secrets to living longer, perhaps even indefinitely.

As researcher Sophie Cox, Ph. D., from the School of Chemical Engineering, explains, we can never fully mimic the complexity of vesicles produced by cells in nature. This work describes a new pathway harnessing natural development processes to facilitate hard tissue repair.

More information: [Scientific Reports]

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