Connor

3-4 min

3)Medical aspects of Genetic Engineering

Medical researchers are using stem cells to grow a plethora of different types of
human tissue and organs

i) used a human-pig hybrid to grow a human liver that was fully functional and
ready

to transplant

ii) Researchers use human stem cells to grow human tissue both in the body and

externally in laboratory conditions

The main limiting factor for tissue engineering is the lack of a vascular network.
recent study using spinach leaf to model how blood flows through arteries,
capillaries and other bodily tissue

Scaffolds: frames used for cells to latch onto and they form the basic shape of the
desired organs. This material needs to degradable inside the human body in order
to avoid surgery. Made of pla (Polylactic Acid) and its super cheap! (1080 ft. for $30-
$40)

b) Scientists have begun to change the human genome in order to prevent

hereditary diseases

in future generations

c) Scientists have sequenced the genome of 101 patients with clear cell renal
cell carcinoma

(ccRCC) a common type of kidney cancer in hopes of finding the cause

i) Scientists turn on/off certain genes like a light switch in order to find
their

function and effect on the body.

ii)Through doing this, they have discovered hundreds of others of genes

that

can contribute to hereditary diseases.

d) These medical advancements may be able to eventually find cures to some

diseases. Things like Down's syndrome, HIV and mitochondrial disease may soon be
things of the past. Wed be able to greatly improve quality of life for many people.
We may also finally put an end to cancer, since it's typically a mutation in cell DNA
that inhibits programmed cell death.