09/21/2012

What the Doctor Ordered: Building New Body Parts

3-D printing projects under way at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine include prototype kidneys, finger bone and ears. Image courtesy of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center
3-D printing projects under way at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine include prototype kidneys, finger bone and ears. Image courtesy of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center

Spray-on skin, made-to-order muscle, and print-out kidneys aren’t just science fiction anymore. Anthony Atala and Stephen Badylak, two pioneers of regenerative medicine, talk about the latest methods for building new body parts, and the challenge of growing complex organs like the heart, liver or brain.

Note: If you’d like to sign up for the Traumatic Limb Muscle Loss Clinical Trials, please contact Allyson LaCovey at 412-624-5308 or lacoveya2@upmc.edu. More information about the trial can be found at Badylak’s laboratory website.

Segment Guests

Anthony Atala

Anthony Atala is director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Stephen Badylak

Stephen Badylak is a deputy director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Meet the Producer

About Christopher Intagliata

Christopher Intagliata was Science Friday’s senior producer. He once served as a prop in an optical illusion and speaks passable Ira Flatowese.