Regenerative medicine is a dynamic field of study that aims to treats injuries and diseases by harnessing the body’s own regenerative capabilities. It encompasses a range of scientific disciplines including developmental biology, genomics, transcriptomics, tissue engineering, immunology and biochemistry.

With a focus on clinical translation, the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute leads world-class fundamental and pre-clinical research in regenerative medicine which aims to better understand stem cells and developmental mechanisms, as well as develop new models of disease and advanced therapeutics

What do regenerative medicine scientists want to know?

Humans have some regenerative capabilities, such as when the liver is able to regrow to its original size following injury or disease, or our skin repairs itself. Some tissues and organs do not have that ability, but ARMI’s scientists and innovators are working to change that.

Our research garners insight into how stem cells repair or replace tissue and organs. Understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms at play is essential in the development of regenerative medicine.

What are the applications of regenerative medicine?

There are three main ways regenerative medicine could be applied to patients.

Organ growth

Disease or injury may lead to organ failure. The only solution to this is a transplant. In Australia, roughly 1,600 people are on the transplant waiting list at any one time, but the challenge is the limited supply of donor organs.

One of the goals of regenerative science is to be able to create new body parts from a patient’s own cells and tissues. This would not only eliminate the demand for organs but also the complications arising from organ rejection.

Self-repair

Embryonic stem cells (which are highly pluripotent – that is, capable of becoming just about any type of cell) are derived from the inner cell mass from blastocysts and are responsible for our growth. This means that the stem cells were able to divide and differentiate into other sorts of cells like nerve cells, muscle cells and blood cells.

When tissue or organs are damaged, they could potentially repair themselves with these pluripotent stem cells; this process could reverse or prevent damage to vital organs. This phenomenon already occurs in nature. The zebrafish, a native to South East Asia, can repair its own heart, even as an adult.

Cellular therapies

As previously mentioned, stem cells can act as a repair mechanism for tissue or organs that are injured or diseased. One day we could see them introduced as a form of therapy to treat and cure a wide range of diseases and genetic disorders, including type 1 diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, multiple sclerosis, leukaemia, Crohn’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis.

What makes regenerative medicine such an exciting field is that it holds the potential of regenerating or replacing any damaged tissue and organs in the body, potentially providing the cure for many diseases, injuries and genetic conditions.