Research Blog:Spare Parts for Humans: Tissue Engineers Aim for Lab-Grown Limbs, Lungs and More

In this article I learned of the amazing things scientists can make our bodies do. At the start of the video it shows a marine named Mile O'Brien who has most of the skin and some of the muscle in his leg destroyed. His muscle is literally visible on his leg. However working with the these amazing tissue engineers they are working on ways to be able to grow tissue or even organs to repair damaged human bodies. Using stem cells and a lot of rigorous physical therapy they found that they were able to turn the cells into muscle. With the help of the scientists Mr. O'Brien was able to regenerate around 10 to 15 percent of the muscle he lost. However, the muscle has gotten so strong that it is the same as him regenerating 50% of the muscle. They might even be able to make extra body parts for people being able buy.They have been working on over 30 different tissues and organs and even extra appendages like ears and even a beating heart valve. Most of these experiments have been testing on salamanders and seen on the movie they actually regenerate limbs. There was also another example of a man that dove into the shallow end of a pool and was completely paralyzed. With the help of stem cells though he was able to talk move his arms and getting stronger. He is believing that he will be able to walk again at the rate he is going. I had no idea that it was possible to repair the body this much. Its awesome that we have this technology to give people there lives back that were injured. After watching this video I am amazed at the things that we are able to do with science
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2822704/post

Sliding Filament Model

We already made a short video of this process but I would like to also post a blog on here to show my individual understanding of the process as well. This is mostly about the contraction and relaxation of the muscles and what goes on inside the body. Inside the muscle fibers are the sarcomeres and they help with contraction of the muscles in the skeleton. When the muscle contracts the sarcomeres do not change length like you would thnk, instead they simply slide past each other. In our video it is shown as the two forks and the match box. Instead of the fork pokers(I do not know the correct term for them)bending into the match box,them simply slide past them fitting in almost perfect fashion.The fork pokers do slighty overlaap each other but they do not change in length by any means. As the muscle relaxes the forks or sarcomeres are pulled away from the match box and are slid back to their resting spot. Working almost like a machine the muscle is able to smoothly flex and relax.

This is a different example than the one we used in our video but it is explaining the same thing. As you can see instead of the sarcomere(fingers) changing length the simply just slide through each other and stay the same length. Going back to the start of this blog i didnt go all the way through the process of the sliding filament model because it can be explained in the video I helped create. Hopefully this blog does somewhat show my knowledge of the Sliding Filament Model

Skeletal System

Called the framework of the body the Skeletal System is what supports and holds up the the body. The bones can be split into two different catagories: Axial Skeleton and Appendicular Skeleton. The Axial Skeleton is the bones of the skull the vertebral column also know as the spine and the rib cage. The Appendicular Skeleton is the bones of the upper and lower limbs the shoulders, and hips. The bones can also be classified by the different shapes they can be in. The first type is the long bones. These bones are longer than wide and example of these bones would be the Humerus or Femur. The opposite of the long bones would of course be the short bones. These bones are cube shaped and are on the wrist and ankle. These bones usually from within the tendons for example the patella and the trapezoid. Flat bones are of course thin and flattened and a bit curved for example the sternum and most skull bones. The last type of bone is Irregular Bones and these bones live up to their name by being oddly shapped like the vertebrae and hip bones.
Function of Bones
Bones have many important functions to making sure the body is up and running. Bones are the support of the body and are the framework of the body and support the soft organs. They also help to protect the brain, spinal cord, and vital organs. They also help for movement of the body and provide levers for the muscles. The bones also are a storage systom for minerals, mostly for calcium and phosphorus. The last function of the bones is the formation of the blood cells.
Bone Fractures
Bone fractures are classified by the position of the bone ends after the break, the completeness of the break, orentation of the bone on the long axis, and whether or not the bone penetrates the skin.There are multiple types of bone fractures. Nondisplaced fractures are when the bone retains its normal position. A complete break is when the bone is broken all the way through. Mostly common in sports, a spiral break is when the bone is excessively twisted. The most common injury among children is the greestick fracture and it occurs when one side of the bone breaks and the other side bends.

This picture shows a complete break,and as you can see the fracture has taken place throughout the entire bone.

This picture shows an greenstick fracture. As you can see the one side of the bone breaks as the other side bends.

Integumentary System

The skin at times may seem like it isn't very important while in all reality it is incredibly important to the well being of the body. The integumentary system is split into three major regions the Epidermis,Dermis, and Hypodermis. The Epidermis is the outer layer of the skin that is exposed to the outside environment. It also serves as protection of the inner skin. This layer of the skin includes waterproofing and protection from abrasion and penetration. The next region of skin is the Dermis. In this second region of the skin it contains the strong flexible connective tissues of the body. There are also white blood cells and fibroblasts. It also split up into two layers,the papillary and reticular. The deepest region of the skin is the Hypodermis. It is composed of adipose and areolar connective tissues. The Integumentary systems is critical to our bodies being able to function properly and have many important functions. The Integummentary system protects the inner body from chemical,physical and mechanical harms. It also helps to cool and warm the body by using cooling and constriction. They also help to increase sweat glands to cool off the body. There are also the Cutaneous sensation that sense touch and pain.The skin also helps when excretion takes place and it gets rid of wastes through sweat.

While skin is wodnderful to the body and helps it,it can also get infected and make the body sick. There are three types of skin cancer which are Basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma,and Melanoma.The least deadly and most common type of skin cancer is the Basal Cell Carcinoma. It is very slow growing and it almost never mestasize. 99% of the time this cancer can be surgically removed. The next type of cancer is the Squamous Cell Carcinoma. It is mostly found on the scalp, lower lip, and the ears. It grows much faster thatn the Basal Cell and will metastasize if it is not removed. It will most likely be removed it is treated by radiation therapy or by surgery.The last type of skin cancer is the most deadly and it is called Melanoma. There is a rule for telling when it is a melanoma skin cancer called the ABCD rule.
A: Asmmetry: The infected area has two sides that do not match.
B:The borders are irregular and have jagged sides.
C: The color is either,black,brown,tan,and red or blue.
D: The diameter is larger than the size of a pencil eraser,or 6mm.
Chances of surviving this cancer are very low if the pigment is over 4mm thick.
The next type of problem to happen to the skin is when the skin gets burned. When a burn occurs it is split into three different degrees. First Degree is when the Epidermis or the outtermost layer of the skin is burned and damaged. This is the most minor of the burns and usually does leave much of a mark. Second degree burns is when the epidermis and the top of the dermis is burned and damaged. At first the symptoms look like a first degree burn but often have blisters appear and rashes occur. Third-degree burns is ehen the entire thickness of the skin is damaged and this can often lead to death. Because the nerve endings are destroyed no pain is initially felt.
There is a rule to determine the severity of burns and it is called the Rule of Nines. Burns are considered critical if over 25% of the body has second degree burns or if 10% has third degree burns.

The picture above shows how the Rule of nines is divided between the different parts of the body. As you can see the legs and anterior are the major parts and can not be damaged. When those parts are damaged in increasing the chances of the injury becoming fatal.