By: Dan Tamayo

 Regenerate heart tissues that have been damaged by Myocardial Infarction  Help those with heart failure  End the need for a heart transplant list

 1897-thoughts of growing cells were being discussed  the first cells were grown outside of a living body  1940’s- the ability to specifically grow certain cells was discovered  1970’s- first artificial pancreas was made  Mid 1990’s- starting to use direct tissue delivery to the affected area  the development of stem cells really broadened the tissue engineering possibilities

 2001-President Bush restricts the funding for stem cell research  Mid 2000’s- FDA approves most cells grafting into human bodies  2009-Obama lifts the ban on federal funding for stem cell research.

 Today, scientists have been able to use the extracellular matrix from pig or rat hearts to make a new one using a technique called decellularization.  In 2011, Columbia University’s Biomedical Engineering researchers developed a new way to patch a heart.

 This is the process of decellularization and recellularization.  Decellularization is when all the cells are removed except for the extracellular matrix (top)  Recellularization is when the new cells are grow in and around the new heart scaffold (bottom)

Empty Scaffold Scaffold with cultured heart cells from a rat

 Small chance of immunorejection  Cost  Research

 Optimal scaffold for cardiac tissue will be found  Ability to re-grow a heart from your cells to be transplanted into your body

 "Mending Broken Hearts with Tissue Engineering." MIT's News Office. Web. 26 Mar  Zimmermann, Wolfram-Hubertus, Michael Didie, Stephan Do¨ Ker, Ivan Melnychenko, Hiroshi Naito, Christina Rogge, Malte Tiburcy, and Thomas Eschenhagen. "Heart Muscle Engineering: An Update on Cardiac Muscle Replacement Therap."Cardiovascular Research 17 (2006). Web.  Tandon, Nina, Anna Marsano, Robert Maidhof, Leo Wan, Hyoungshin Park, and Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic. "Optimization of Electrical Stimulation Parameters for Cardiac Tissue Engineerin." JOURNAL OF TISSUE ENGINEERING AND REGENERATIVE MEDICINE (2011). Web.  Eschenhagen, Thomas, and Wolfram H. Zimmermann. "Circulation Research." (2005). Web.  Van Winterswijk, Peter J., and Erik Nout. "An Overview: History of Tissue Engineering."Tissue Engineering and Wound Healing (2007). Web.  "Engineers Patch a Heart: Tissue-Engineering Platform Enables Heart Tissue to Repair Itself."ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 06 May Web. 26 Mar  Zammaretti, Prisca, and Marisa Jacon. "Cardiac Tissue Engineering: Regeneration of the Wounded Heart." Current Opinion in Biotechnology (2004). Web.  Columbia University. "Engineers patch a heart: Tissue-engineering platform enables heart tissue to repair itself." ScienceDaily, 7 May Web. 22 Oct