Listen to discussion on the Today with Sean O’Rourke show on 30/3/16

 

Imagine a world where organs are not replaced, but repaired in situ?

Where stem cells are used to repair bone in knees or hips, preventing the need for their replacement?

Or where an entire heart, liver or kidney an be printed to order in advance of transplant into a patient?

It might sound fanciful but this is the world of regenerative medicine, it’s already happening, and Irish scientists and research teams are among the leading lights driving the field.