Regenerative medicine, the future of health

Treating diseases as cancer or Parkinson, or creating bioartificial hearts thanks to the cells of our own bodies seems to be ascience fiction idea. However, in several decades it could become a reality thanks to regenerative medicine.

• An interdisciplinary field

Regenerative medicine is an interdisciplinary field in which principles of engineering and life sciences interact. Our own cells are renewed in natural processes: they live approximately 7 days and are replaced by new ones. So when our body is injured, for instance, it has the innate response to defend itself and tries to heal. Regenerative medicine wants to understand how the regenerative processes of our own organisms can be imitated to treat diseases that also need this regeneration.

• A fantastic challenge:

Extracting cells from the patient to heal diseases without any treatment, regenerating tissues damaged by age or creating organs for a transplant, represents an incredible challenge in the health field. It could change so many things, especially in case of organs transplants that are linked to risks such as reject, immunosuppression… With the possibility of generating organs, there will be no need to fear these side effects.

• Several concerned areas:

– Cellular therapy: a stem or specialized cell is derived to another cellular type to create a tissue of substitution for another that is sick or damaged.

– Gene therapy: it deals with inserting a gene in a cell to block one that is defective or absent.

– Tissue engineering: it consists in developing bioartificial organs to substitute the ones that are not working properly.

• The importance of stem cells:

Stem cells have an essential function in the process of organism regeneration, since they are the origin of the rest of the specialized cells. They are vital for tissues and organs regeneration. That is why, resorting to cryopreservation permits to pause the biological age of stem cells and take advantage of all its potential the day they are needed. Maintaining its regeneration potential today is a real life insurance for your health.

Regenerative medicine is a real challenge that could deeply change traditional medicine and improve our health in an incredible way. If you are interested in Regenerative Medicine, at SHA we can help you preserving your stem cells through a cryopreservation bank storage.