Body enhancement is a very popular procedure in the United States, but sometimes they go wrong and make the patient even worse than every before. Breast implants and botox might be a history one day, thanks to Dr. J. Peter Rubin, assistant professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery at the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Medicine, who discovered a unique technique that would allow doctors to perform plastic surgery using only a patient’s own stem cells. Dr. Rubin said “using fillers requires invasive surgery and the results may not look ideally natural. In the case of fat grafts, they also might not last as long as a patient would like, as fat transferred whole to a new part of the body has a tendency to break down as time goes on. He also added “Replacing these fillers with stem cells could solve the problems.”
Brief description of Stem Cell:
Stem cell means cells that have the ability to produce more of themselves and differentiate into special types of cells, like skin or other tissue types. pluripotent or multipotent, is one type of stem cell in which cells are able to turn into many different type of cells, such as bone, neurons, muscle and finally organs. The most well know Stem cell as you probably know is embryonic stem cells, and this is the one that raises the controversy about Stem Cells. “If we can capitalize on stem cell biology, we can use those cells to reconstruct lost tissue or construct new tissue in a less invasive way,” Rubin said.
How Does That Work?
Doctors first have to take/separate out multi- or pluripotent adult stem cells and grow them in something called a petri dish. After the cells start growing the stem cells can be coaxed into taking on different specialties, such as fat or cartilage. Then, these cells are ready to be injected into the patient, where they continue to grow and divide creating natural tissues without plastics or any surgery. According to Rubin and colleagues, these techniques could one day be used to fill out wrinkles on an aging face, replace breast tissue lost to cancer treatment, or even grow a natural breast implant. Sources: Yahoo Fox News