Category:	Science and Technology
Domain:	Biology and Biotechnology, Materials
Keywords:	Biotechnology & genetics - health care, medicine, regeneration, bioengineering, stem cells, biomaterials, nanomaterials, micromaterials, textiles
Outlook:	Research on active biomaterials for implantation in the human body could lead to in-situ repair and regeneration of damaged tissue as an alternative to surgery and a cure for some diseases.
Summary Analysis:	The first generation of manufactured biomaterials emerged in the 1960s; they were prosthetic parts made of inert substances that were intended to be placed inside the body with minimal likelihood of immune system rejection. A second generation employed bioactive materials that could elicit a desired action and reaction from the body. Employing research at the molecular level, a new generation of biomaterials is in development; these novel materials are being designed to stimulate specific cellular responses, thereby activating genes to stimulate the regeneration of live tissue. While research on active biomaterials is new, the development of biomaterials has been under way for 40+ years. If regenerative medicine based on active biomaterials can be developed, it is conceivable that the body will be able to heal itself internally, as it does with a cut or scrape today. Tissue regeneration shows the greatest promise with the use of stem cells, so new developments in stem cell research are an important part of the effort. Nanomaterials may provide solutions to the significant challenge of developing mechanisms that will support blood flow in engineered materials.

	Implications:	Vast enhancement of the human body's ability to repair itself Potential for reversal of organ damage resulting from disease Decreased use of surgery
	Early Indicators:	Employment of biomaterials for skin regeneration in acute wounds such as burns and as scaffolds for guided nerve regeneration at the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University Successful application of research by Stephan Heller (Harvard/Stanford) on using adult and embryonic stem cells to regenerate hearing tissues, leading to improvement of hearing loss due to aging
	What to Watch:	Breakthroughs in stem cell research, nanomaterials and microtextiles lead to procedures that can be tested in clinical trials.
	Parallels/Precedents:	Development of the first and second generations of manufactured biomaterials
	Enablers/drivers:	Better understanding of the basic mechanisms involved in cell growth and differentiation into different types of tissue Resolution of the ethical dilemma associated with the use of embryonic stem cells Rapid aging of the population in Western societies, outpacing medicine's ability to perform invasive surgeries and the human and financial resources to do so Ongoing nanomaterial research
	Leaders:	Institutions: University of Pittsburgh, McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine (work of Ian J. Russell) Imperial College London, Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Centre (work of Helen Rippon) International Society for Cellular Therapy (work of Shelly Heimfeld) International Society for Stem Cell Research [link] European Consortium for Stem Cell Research (UK, Sweden, France, Italy, Germany, Denmark) [link] Biomaterials Network [link] French National Health and Medical Research Institute, Languedoc University of Science, Montpellier Engineering Research Center in Biomaterials, Sichuan University, Chengdu [link] Tissue Engineering Research and Development Center, Beijing, China [link] Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Porto, Portugal [link] The Healing Foundation Centre, Manchester, UK [link] Cardiff University Brain Repair and Imaging Centre [link] Institute for Stem Cell Research, Edinburgh, UK [link] and Centre for Regenerative Medicine, University of Edinburgh, UK [link] Newcastle University Faculty of Medical Sciences, UK [link]
	Figures:
	Sources:	Li, Huawei, Graham Roblin, Hong Liu, and Stefan Heller. "Generation of hair cells by stepwise differentiation of embryonic stem cells." PNAS (Nov 2003). Senker, J., and S. Mahdi. 2003. "Human Tissue Engineered Products - Today's Markets and Future Prospects." Brighton: SPRU, 46 p. [link] "Press 'Print' for Body Parts." The Economist, 10 June 2004. "Third Generation Biomedical Materials." Science 295 (Feb 2002). New Scientist Special Report on Stem Cells [link] Foresight Project Report: Healthcare 2020 [link]

	At A Glance:	When:	11–20 years
		Where:	Global
		How Fast:	Years
		Likelihood:	Medium-Low
		Impact:	Medium-High
		Controversy:	Medium

Related Outlooks:

Posted at Dec 22/2006 05:50AM:
Waldo Hitcher

This, and all the other outlooks have a common weakness that reduces their value considerably.

Each outlook is a serial projection of historic information. Whereas the future is an integration and synthesis aof parallel activity. The only way to model possible futures is to integrate concepts yourself. It is a creative process not a discovery process. There is little discernable synthesis of ideas in any outlook.

Viable futures are essentially created by the forecast not found by a bureaucratic literature search. This is full of spurious detail backed by references to ensure researchers can claim authority and payment. How can you have references to the future?

An integrative approach would start from the end position and work back combining concepts into their useful output. Only top down imaginative methods can help. You are not discovering America you are creating an illustrative conceptual strategy.

The conceptual base is created by drilling down into existing technologies until you find the conceptual crossing points (product archeology). Then you can combine the anologous concepts to achieve the vision (product ballistics).

An example in this case is the combination of self replicating control systems (DNA) with on the fly directed change systems (eg bio gene manipulation) to achieve energy, computation and nutrients for higher animals. That is 80% or more of human activity effort addressed.

There is no possibility of ever being right but it will be useful.

There is no possibility of being either right or useful, with mere straight line extrapolation of historical research.

Posted at Dec 22/2006 06:35AM:
Waldo Hitcher

Perhaps been a little harm on the site. There is a lot of interesting content. My prime concern would be there is nothing new. The future is new.

All that is needed is to track the innovative concepts back to their unique ancestors then analogically project forward to to close the vision gaps.

There is no reason why we have to wait 50 years for things we can project now.