One of the few regular readers of the website Mika recently sent a message to the website email (naturalheightgrowth@gmail.com) showing me something which did peak my interest. It seems this Israeli Biomedical Company Bonus Biogroup has gotten the bone implant part down using the 3D Bioprinting technology. Refer to the powerpoint pdf in the link http://mayafiles.tase.co.il/
However,we have already seen maybe a dozen other companies who have been working on and gotten the functional bone tissue implantation to work out. Bone tissue implants using a stem cell into scaffold matrix model based on the standard tissue engineering process is very straight forward. I know at least 3 different university teams that have already gotten that to work.
What makes this group on Israel very interesting is that they are using 3D Printers to build the scaffold, but also plan to try to build cartilage-bone combination tissues in the future.
Mika tells me that the CEO, this Dr. Shai Meretzki, has proposed the idea of using these bone implants to help dwarves grow taller. I have not found that link or reference yet. However I did find this single passage from the following source (https://anneinpt.wordpress.com/2014/02/28/good-news-friday-90/)
Grows like any other part of the body
“This is a better solution for the body than plastic or metal pieces,” Meretzki claims. These bones are “active live bones that can grow; remodel and change as your body does.” Even with young children, when the bone graft is surgically inserted, the new addition adjusts and grows like any other part of the body.
This suggests that the bones when put into young children with functional growth plates, the bones can elongate or grow longitudinally (interstitially) along with the other part of the bone. Now, does this mean that this company already has got the Bone-Cartilage Combo working already?
No.
What the passage is really saying is that the person still needs to have the functional growth plate cartilage in their damaged bone. The tissue implant is still only a scaffold for bone tissue, not cartilage tissue.
He still has not gotten the bone-cartilage interface to be perfected yet. What he has perfected is the bone tissue growing part. For a better explanation of the process, refer to http://jewishbusinessnews.com/2014/02/20/dr-shai-meretzki-grows-new-bones-from-patients-fat/.
He still needs a functional epiphyseal cartilage tissue with the reserve zone area to get the bone to grow on. Bone is bone. He has only been able to get the bone implants to work.
This is the next step, to get the bone-cartilage combo to be functional, which is really tricky. refer to the passage below….
“Currently,” Meretzki tells NoCamels, “we are growing bone and cartilage but we’re working on a system that combines the property of both bone and cartilage.” Hoping to break into the field of healing joints, which is more complex has it includes cartilage. “It’s an extremely desperate and vast market with a limited solution,” says Meretzki.”
The CEO of this company would like to get the tissue combination to be functional though. If he does manage to accomplish that, he will have touched closer to the holy grail of what I have been proposing for the last 2 years. Even then, he would still need to account for the reserve zone of MSCs and the perfect growth stimulation factor combo.
To listen to a talk by the CEO, refer to this vimeo – https://vimeo.com/64006097
Interesting as always, but I’d like to add that the blog would have many more regular readers if the updates were regular as well.
Taking the time to answer comments is also a good way of promoting an engaged base of readers.
Do you think we will ever find a non invasive and effective method to grow taller?
We won’t, but scientists will. Not only we want it. Think of people with leg length discrepancies, people with achondroplasia or any kind of dwarfism, kids with serious injuries in growth plates. Not only that. There are people with a finger shorter than normal, or arms. Think that the growth plates are the most delicate part of a bone when you are a kid, so there are many people who suffer injuries and the growth is affected, so they need it.
Also, everyone has a small leg lenght discrepacncy. Some elite athletes may pay to fix it as well.
What about men/women who want to be policeman? or firefighter? stewardess?
What about businessman who want to increase their chances?
Also, models, or a man who suddenly fell in love with a woman taller than him.
All those men who improve their bodies going to the gym would have a new way to improve it: increasing height. The market is huge.
You only have to consider how many people needs it. It is not only about height, there are some conditions that need growth plates to be reopened. The answer may be in Stem Cells (regenerative medicine) but we should wait some years till it is ready and at a good price (actually, current orthopedic treatments with stem cells are not too expensive).
Read this: http://health.clevelandclinic.org/2014/02/regrowing-growth-plates-a-fix-for-kids-injuries/
Furthermore, last year (2014) we (humanity) found why we stop growing at one point, in a research envolving studying growth plates. And this year (2015), we found new components that contribute to longitudinal growth in growth plates in other study. (Answer if you want links regarding this)
And if you want to know something about trends in regenerative medicine, I strongly recommend you to read this: http://www.elsevier.com/research-intelligence/research-initiatives/ri/stem-cell-research
Ah! and other fact: in some years we will be able to make bones from our stem cells and implant it (funding in research for this goal is quite strong nowadays). So, when it comes to children, they will have to implant bones with growth plates. So science will be forced to create growth plates, soon or later.
It is not about possible or not, is about needed or not. When science needs something, nothing is impossible.
I send few emails to mr Meretzki but no answer. I give an idea that instead of making carilage bone combo for translplant there may be other way…take smal amount of someone with opened ones, means someone young, best would be some relative. Then using steam cells from person who will recive transplant grow them with base from cartilage taken fom young donor. It could work like that
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