Just recently I came across a news post announcing the World’s first artificial womb – EctoLife? Well, I was pretty confused on how that was possible and if it was really genuine.
On digging deep I found out that the news was actually fake, but many researchers are actually working on a prototype of an artificial womb which happens to be one of the many artificial organs being researched right now. Curious? Let this article take you down a smooth journey of understanding them better.
Ever since the dawn of science the human race has been moving onwards and upwards; or else who would have thought that human organs or tissues could now be printed using 3D printers, to replace or assist the existing organs in the human body. Starting from 1982, when the first fully functional artificial heart called Jarvik-7 was successfully implanted in a human by Robert Jarvik and Willem Kolff who is hence, also known as the Father of Artificial organs (Dr. Willem Kloff has also invented the first type of dialyzer which was called an artificial kidney, then).This major development paved the way for progress and currently, Artificial organs is a major field under Bioengineering. Artificial organs are defined as human-made devices designed to replace, duplicate or augment existing tissue. Although they may be developed using non-biologic materials, they function through the interface between the living tissue and the material and hence, the easiest way of artificial organ manufacturing is by mimicking the architecture and structure of the organ naturally present in the body.
Imagine an architect on their job, just like how they’d decide the structure of the scaffold or the frame and then using bricks as building blocks plan out a structure; artificial organs are engineered replicas of naturally existing human organs built using bio-polymers and stem cells as building blocks and designed in 3D scaffolds. Based on the materials used in making them, 3 types of artificial organs are defined; Mechanical (made of bio polymers), Biomechanical (made of inanimate polymers and partially living cells) and Biological (made of living cells).
As interesting as organ manufacturing sounds, the whole process takes place in 4 major steps. Computer Aided Design(CAD) modeling is used to create an outline using different types of cell preparations with growth factors like Vascular Endothelial Growth factor(VEGF), Fibroblast Growth Factor(FGF), Transforming Growth Factor ß (TGF ß) and many other organ specific growth factors. Next, the organ is integrated using various techniques like combined molding, multi-nozzle rapid prototyping(MNRP) and various neural/vascular/lymphatic networks are formed. Post tissue maturation step is very significant as cross linking of living tissues with the organ occurs through contact and certain bio polymers causing the cell populations to coalesce and finally lead to formation of a practical new structure carrying out normal physiological function. It is a really complex and tedious process.
Obviously, artificial organs have widespread use in treatment and also medical research because they can replace, duplicate or augment the functions of already existing living tissue. Starting with organ transplantation; they can help in solving organ shortages and provide buffer time for the patient until an organ is available for transplant. Since they are made using the patient’s own stem cells, the risk of immune rejection is also quite minimal. Numerous companies are developing Total Artificial Heart (TAH) for end stage heart failure patients as a stopgap until a suitable donor heart is available for transplantation. Coming to what we started this article with- the artificial womb. Researchers are trying to develop a structure which mimics the viable environment of a mother’s womb to increase the survival chances of premature babies and decrease neonatal mortality. Artificial womb is currently a promising research field.
A well developed artificial organ can be used as an analogue of a human organ for pre clinical drug testing and toxicology studies to determine its potential of use in clinical practice and thus, expedite the drug development process and decrease the need and dependence on animal testing. For example, the effect of valproate was tested on artificially developed Liver tissue ExVive developed by the company Organovo. Skin, the largest organ of the human body, has also been artificially manufactured and is currently used for cosmetologically testing by companies like L’Oreal. Artificial Pancreas are also under clinical trials for use in type 1 diabetics. Prostheses like limb implants or cochlear implants which are available now
also make a good example.
Just like how a coin has 2 sides, artificial organs also pose some issues like materials used might be potential carcinogens or teratogens with extremely high cost of manufacturing leading to less availability and accessibility because they are still at the developing stage.
Many researchers have also highlighted various ethical concerns on manufacturing such organs, one prominent example is of the first double amputee who competed in Olympics with flex-foot cheetah prosthetic legs. Oscar pistorius’ performance led to debate on how fair it is to use prosthetics which gave him many advantages over other performers. Although prostheses were a treatment option for him, surely they enhanced his running capabilities.
What happens when these organs manufactured by us actually start defying natural aging and live longer than us? What happens when people start choosing artificial organs to replace their normal fleshy organs just because they are more efficient or even for the thrill
of it? Finally, are we close towards The Cyborg Age?
References
1. https://blog.lib.utah.edu/father-artificial-organs-willem-j-kolff/
2. https://aabme.asme.org/posts/innovations-in-artificial-organs
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6322143/
4. https://vce.usc.edu/volume-1-issue-1/the-ethics-of-artificial-organs/
5. https://medium.com/a-microbiome-scientist-at-large/ectolife-isnt-real-and-heres-where-artificial-wombs-fall-short-968f80f225
