Tufts recently established a Tissue Engineering Resource Center - the first facility of its kind in the world - with the help of a $4 million grant from the National Institute of Health (NIH).
The Tissue Center, devoted solely to the advancement of tissue engineering, is based at Tufts Science and Technology Center in Medford.
The cross-disciplinary nature of the center places it in a unique position, said David Kaplan, Center director and Biomedical Engineering Department chair. Kaplan said the center's two main goals are "building a fundamental scientific base for tissue engineering" and "providing resources and facilitating growth in the field."
The establishment of the facility brings Tufts to the forefront of tissue research and into the controversial realm of stem cell research. The Center's first project will study the structure and morphology of synthetic tissue in relation to its effect on the differentiation of stem cells.
Stem cells play an important role in the field of tissue engineering because they enable the growth of human tissues and organs in a laboratory, according to a press release. The tissue can then be used for transplants or to study new drugs and procedures.
The Bush administration limits the use of federal money for stem cell research and the government spent just $25 million on it in 2003, according to the New York Times. Senator and presidential candidate John Kerry has promised that, if elected, he would lift these restrictions and increase spending to at least $100 million a year.
Tufts students and faculty at the Center will use stem cells to tackle the recent development of a
technique to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament, commonly known as the ACL. The project was developed by Tufts doctoral candidate Greg Altman under Kaplan's guidance.
A torn ACL is a common but severe knee injury - an estimated 200,000 ACL repair surgeries were performed in the U.S. last year at a cost of approximately $3.5 billion. Recovery time for the surgery is generally six months, but many people do not recover full use of their knee for over a year and 15 percent of people who injure their ACL never return to their original level of
activity.
Using the new method, a completely new ACL is grown in a laboratory using stem cells from a donor's bone marrow.
The tissue can be grown even before an injury has occurred and can be preserved, allowing a brand new ACL to be transplanted immediately following an injury. This will shorten the recovery time to weeks and likely result in normal use of the knee.
According to Kaplan, the Tissue Center will also use stem cells to grow various tissue models in order to test new drugs. The procedure has the potential to drastically reduce the need for animal testing and make the development of new drugs an easier and more efficient process.
Kaplan will work with a diverse array of researchers, including Tufts faculty members from the schools of Engineering, Arts and Sciences, Medicine, Dental Medicine and Veterinary Medicine.
He will also be working with personnel from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Division of Health Sciences and Technology.
The overriding goal of the center is the advancement of the field of tissue engineering. The center's laboratories will allow scientists from around the world full access to the techniques being developed. A number of collaborations on specific projects are already being planned.
Private companies, such as Tissue Regeneration Inc., recently formed by Altman to develop and test his ACL repair method, will also have the option of using the Center's labs. "This center will help stimulate new economic growth by filling an important niche for start-up companies looking for support," Provost Jamshed Bharucha said. "Tufts is proud to be part of this growing field."
Tissue engineering is a relatively new field, defined by the NIH as "an emerging multidisciplinary field involving biology, medicine, and engineering that is likely to revolutionize the ways we improve the health and quality of life for millions of people worldwide by restoring, maintaining, or enhancing tissue and organ function."
