Overview of the TED talk

Alan Russell spoke on the topic of Regenerative Medicine and explained the impact of breakthrough medicines such as tissue engineering and biomaterials that can allow the body to rebuild itself. He explained that the current state of medicine is to offer therapy through drugs or devices to mitigate disease, not cure it. However, the focus moving forward should be to give a diseased body or organ the means to return to its original healthy state through innovative types of intervention. He spoke on stem cell therapy, and animal derived tissue implants that allows the body to essentially regrow itself and heal. For example, when a patient with a diabetic ulcer on her foot received an animal-derived tissue implant on the diseased area, it was able to regrow and heal. Overall, his objective was to promote the forward movement of regenerative medicine as it holds many potential benefits.

Technological Advancements

Since his TED Talk in 2006, there have been a handful of steps made in the right direction. One of which is the creation of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM) which brings industry and universities together in research efforts towards improving and commercializing regenerative medicine therapies. Seen in the image below is the breakdown of the who and what involved in ARM.

The Mayo Clinic also has added regenerative medicine as one of its focuses and is pouring research into the space.

Although there haven’t been many major changes to the regenerative medicine landscape in the past two decades, one major advancement has come from CRISPR Therapies in the gene editing space. In December 2023, the FDA approved the first gene therapies for sickle cell disease and has had success with patients to this point. This is a major step in the right direction and hopefully, many more will follow in the near future.

Currently, there is still a steep hill to climb for many of these therapies, as the technology is still in its infancy and the barriers to entry are high. While there is a strong demand for these technologies in the market, creating a safe and effective solution to these problems will continue to prove difficult and costly.

Relation to Polymeric Biomaterials

The TED talk directly relates to biomaterials as everything besides the medical devices is itself a biomaterial. Additionally, the medical devices must utilize biocompatible materials to avoid eliciting an immune response from the body while in use. These solutions are made of either natural or synthetic cells or materials that are directly being injected or implanted on or in the body.