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Review
. 2013 Aug 1;3(8):a015693.
doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a015693.

Will regenerative medicine replace transplantation?

Giuseppe Orlando  1 , Shay Soker, Robert J Stratta, Anthony Atala
Affiliations
Review

Will regenerative medicine replace transplantation?

Giuseppe Orlando et al. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. .

Abstract

Recent groundbreaking advances in organ bioengineering and regeneration have provided evidence that regenerative medicine holds promise to dramatically improve the approach to organ transplantation. The two fields, however, share a common heritage. Alexis Carrel can be considered the father of both regenerative medicine and organ transplantation, and it is now clear that his legacy is equally applicable for the present and future generations of transplant and regenerative medicine investigators. In this review, we will briefly illustrate the interplay that should be established between these two complementary disciplines of health sciences. Although regenerative medicine has shown to the transplant field its potential, transplantation is destined to align with regenerative medicine and foster further progress probably more than either discipline alone. Organ bioengineering and regeneration technologies hold the promise to meet at the same time the two most urgent needs in organ transplantation, namely, the identification of a new, potentially inexhaustible source of organs and immunosuppression-free transplantation of tissues and organs.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Representation of the comparison between the number of renal transplants performed yearly since 1999 and the number of patients on the waiting list for a kidney from a deceased donor. The gap between the two variables is dramatically increasing as a consequence of the constantly escalating number of patients registered on the waiting list and an unprecedented attenuation of the growth of kidney transplantation (based on official, open access data from Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network data as of August 24, 2012).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
The ability to regenerate inversely proportional to the degree of complexity of a species. Phylum Chordata are on the extreme segment of the spectrum, yet some vertebrate species like zebrafish have maintained the capacity to fully regenerate organs after amputation and so represent a formidable experimental model for organ bioengineering and regeneration investigations. Humans are instead at the very end of the spectrum.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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