Editorial

IIT engineers from Delhi bioengineering group attached to the text- tile department of IIT, Delhi have developed a novel method of organ development using stem cells of the same person.

The cells from the healthy part of the body needing replacement are made to grow in biodegradable scaffolds of the required shape. They replace the organ, eliminating the risks involved by receiving organs from donors. This also eliminates the possibility of rejection of the I grafted organ by the patients.

This work creating scaffolds has been with the help of AIIMS and PGI, Chandigargh, Proving that science is "sans frontiers", the IIT team has worked with Prof. Hibbon from the University of Uppsala of Sweden, Prof. Didier Letourneur from Bichat Hospital and Prof. Joelle Amedee from the University of Bordeaux, France, in this research.

Scaffolding is based on polylactic acid copolymers. They are biodegradable. If successful, one has many applications such as treating burn injuries, for avoiding by-pass surgery and for replacing  damaged liver.

With the recent invention of 3D bioprinter, the world's first bioprinter, research scientists can use this to enable placing cells of any pattern. This will help surgeons to have tissues on demand which can be grown in scaffolds by constructing organs by cell by cell construction.

Collaboration on an interdisciplinary basis and between nations has resulted in a growth of medical science by leaps and bounds, even before we have completed ten years of the 21st century. The research group from the bioengineering is part of the textile department of IIT-Delhi.