REGENERATIVE MEDICINE
A brief definition:
“Regenerative Medicine replaces or regenerates human cells, tissue or organs, to restore or establish normal function”*
"...There are already a lot of definitions of the term "Regenerative Medicine", but all are lengthy and not the sort of thing scientists, start-ups or advocates can say succinctly when a pharma executive, government minister or member of the public asks for clarification... ...Above all it must be simple. The explanation must avoid confusing the audience. If it includes tissue engineering, genetic engineering and molecular activators and so on the danger is that it will lose focus. The techniques used will also change with time. If the enquirer asks for more then, depending on their background, there are many different kinds of detail that can be added. Equally, though it would be valuable to lay emphasis on the contrast with molecular medicine and its need for “repeat prescriptions” for chronic conditions this too can be left to elaboration. Of the lengthy definities we have used that of Greenwood et al, 2006** as a starting point, “Regenerative Medicine is an emerging interdisciplinary field of research and clinical applications focused on the repair, replacement or regeneration of cells, tissues or organs to restore impaired function resulting from any cause, including congenital defects, disease, trauma and aging. It uses a combination of several technological approaches that moves it beyond traditional transplantation and replacement therapies. These approaches may include, but are not limited to, the use of soluble molecules, gene therapy, stem cell transplantation, tissue engineering and the reprogramming of cell and tissue types”. This provides a basis for a short explanatory sentence. For the reasons given we have deliberately not included “repair” but have covered instances where normal function has been “established” for the first time. We have also added “human” to qualify the “cells, tissues or organs” because though other options are possible, such as using porcine derived islets, they can be accounted for without direct mention. So the explanation can simply be “Regenerative Medicine replaces or regenerates human cells, tissue or organs, to restore or establish normal function”*
*Mason C. and Dunnill P. A brief definition of regenerative medicine. Regenerative Medicine. 3(1), 1-5, 2008.
**Greenwood H.L., Thorsteinsdottir H., Perry G., Renihan J., Singer P.A. and Daar A.S. Regenerative medicine: new opportunities for developing countries. International Journal of Biotechnology, 8(1-2), 60-77, 2006.
