If you need a facial reconstruction for whatever reason, here is some great news. University of South California researcher Songtao Shi along with his colleagues recently discovered that stem cells can regenerate bone and skin tissue. As of now the tests have been done on mouse and swine models only. This is yet to be applied to humans.
This basically means that the patient can get a stem cell job. I have heard of a nose job or a teeth job before where you reconstruction of your nose. But, this is the first time I am hearing about a stem cell job. Stem cells will replace plastic surgery in near future. This is indeed an exciting time for the stem cell research.
The mesenchymal stem cells or commonly known as MSCs will become a plastic surgeon’s weapon in near future. These can be used to fix anything from sever facial damage to wrinkles. So it’s time to say goodbye to all the rest of the crap that claims they can fix wrinkles. No more applying lotions.
The Research:
To reconstruct the bone tissue, the researchers used MSCs extracted from human bone marrows and planted them in the frontal skull area. This was done to study the reconstruction of Orofacial bone tissue. The researchers also used MSCs obtained from periodontal ligament.
The detailed results:
* Much to the amazement of the researchers, the expansion of the skull was clearly visible after eight weeks. Several other tests proved the fact that the tissue was integrated to the bones.
* Also, new bone tissue showed signs of homeostasis : a process that develops R.B.C.s. This sets a new trend in the application of stem cell research.Shi thinks that the development of Red blood cells is extremely crucial. According to Shi:
This is very important. This is not an implant. This is an extension of the body. These cells have the ability to work with and organize existing cells and tissue.
Thus, with this study, many future applications have opened up. Shi will try to improve the research by experimenting with the delivery methods as well. This kind of study will hopefully improve facial reconstruction.
Image Credits: Nidcr, Hawkhill
