Advances in tissue engineering hold great promise for pediatric urology

However, without a doubt, continuing progress in the area of tissue engineering holds the greatest potential impact, not just in pediatric urology or even the entire specialty, but for medicine and society as a whole, according to Howard M. Snyder, III, MD, professor of surgery in urology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia.

Speaking to Urology Times, Dr. Snyder referred to research being presented by Anthony Atala, MD, PhD, and colleagues from the Wake Forest University Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, as the most important AUA paper in pediatric urology and perhaps overall. Their report demonstrates success with in vitro reconstitution of human kidney structures from single cultured human renal cells.

"Looking ahead, we can expect to hear more about tissue-engineering approaches for replacing multiple tissue and organs. Dr. Atala and his team have already engineered bladders and tubularized urethra from autologous cells that have been successfully transplanted in patients, and there is no theoretical reason preventing this technology from being developed for replacing the liver in hepatic failure or the pancreas in diabetes."