Jack M Current Event Post

How to Grow Human bones in a Lab

Source: CNN.com By: Brandon Griggs Date: January 11 2015 Article Date: October 30, 2015

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/30/health/growing-human-bones-epibone-pioneers/

The article I looked at talked about how researchers and scientists at a company called EpiBone have found a way to grow bones that can be used for bone replacements or bone implants, with the help of a 3D printer. One of the geniuses behind this discovery in Nina Tandon, the CEO of Epibone. It is supposed to help anyone in need of a bone implant that doesn’t want to worry about diseases cause by regular bone implants made from a cadaver. To grow the bones, they first find the exact measurements if the bone that is to be replaced. Then they extract stem cells from the patient’s fat. Here is where the 3D printer comes in. They use the measurements of the bone, and print a 3D mold that will be the bone with the 3D printer. Then the patient’s stem cells are put in the mold, which is put into an incubator called a bioreactor. It is there where the bone is made. It takes about three weeks for this entire process to take place, and it all happens in the Epibone lab. So far there have only been these tests on pigs, but EpiBone is hoping they can start testing it on humans within the next few years. “What we’re doing here is interesting,” says Nina Tandon, CEO of EpiBone, “because it’s where science fiction meets reality.”

In this article the people at EpiBone show that they have made an extraordinary discovery. Growing bones which has always sounded impossible, now is possible because of this discovery. Not only will it help people in need of a bone implant, but it will also take away the risk of disease from bones made from cadaver. I chose this article because it amazes me that people have been able to achieve something this large. It shows that humans are really starting to advance with the help of technology like 3D printers. There definitely was a need for this discovery too, because of diseases that can be caused by regular implants. I think that this discovery has lots of pros like that it is one step closer to growing entire limb replacements, which could help people who have had to get entire limbs amputated, but the only con is that it can take a bit of a long time to grow the bone implant.

Works Cited

“How to Grow Human Bones in a Lab.” CNN.com. Turner Broadcasting System, n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2016. <http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/30/health/growing-human-bones-epibone-pioneers/>.