Nicolette
Petnuch
Fountain, Henry.
"BODY BUILDERS; Human Muscle, Regrown on Animal Scaffolding." The
New York Times. The New York Times, 17 Sept. 2012. Web. 28 Oct. 2012.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/17/health/research/human-muscle-regenerated-with-animal-help.html?pagewanted=1>.
The article Human Muscle, Regrown on
Animal Scaffolding spoke about how the use of the extracellular matrix in
animals specifically pig urinary bladder, could help regrow muscle tissue.
Sergeant Ron Strang was hit with a roadside bomb in Afghanistan that took off
part of his thigh and left him unable to move his left leg forward. The article
explains how while promising, this technique is not a miracle, but doctors like Dr. Stephen Badylak,
deputy director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine
at the University of Pittsburgh, believe
that it can make a big difference. This procedure is done by removing all of the
living cells from a specific organ or tissue and leaving the proteins. The
reason for this is because removing the old human cells gives a more likely
chance that the new animal cells will not be rejected during implantation.
This new procedure where animal cells are
implanted in human cells to help recreate muscle tissue is quite astonishing.
This gives hope to all the fallen soldiers and people who lack functioning
limbs and muscles that they too can walk and run regularly. But the trials that
have begun are a great success. Sergeant Strang was skeptical that the new
animal cells would help him regain movement to where he would be able to run on
a treadmill or walk without a hitch. But the surgery was successful and
immediately he was up and moving. Besides being able to move more easily, this
surgery was also important for Sergeant Strang’s thoughts. Before the
procedure, he used to sit by the doors or exits in order to get out safely in
case of an emergency in places like restaurants. Now that he has regained his
stride, he no longer fears of not getting out fast enough and doesn’t need to
be by an exit. This groundbreaking procedure could give hope to many people who
have lost muscle tissue and are not able to move as efficiently. This could be
the start of a wonderful new surgery that could help many people to function
regularly because of animal extracellular matrix and a little physical therapy.
While the article was well written, I
think that it was also a bit hard to follow. First the author starts out
talking about Sergeant Strang and his battle in Afghanistan. As the article
continues it talks about a doctor who two decades ago was looking for a way to
transfer blood in different parts of the body. The author then goes on to explain
how the doctor, Dr. Badylak tested this on a dog by replacing the dog’s main
artery with a piece of the small intestine. Then the article goes back to
speaking about Sergeant Strang. Overall, the article was very promising and the
topic of replacing muscle tissue with animal extracellular matrix is a very
interesting new procedure.
This article review was well thought out and presented the information well. One aspect of the review that was well presented was how the use of the extracellular matrix in animals specifically urinary bladder can help re grow muscle tissue. The review did a good job of providing an example of how this can reconstruct someone’s life, for instance Sergeant Ron Strang who was hit by a bomb that took of part of his thigh muscle. Another aspect of the review that was well presented was how exactly this procedure was done and why. This procedure is done by removing all of the living cells from a specific organ or tissue and leaving the proteins. The reason for this is because removing the old human cells gives a more likely chance that the new animal cells will not be rejected during implantation.
ReplyDeleteI think this article review could have been improved by providing more background on this topic. Is it a newly discovered procedure? How much does it cost to have it done? Have doctors been researching and studying it and finally been able to execute a successful implementation? Another aspect of the review that I believe could have been improved was who exactly is to what point is this procedure incapable of healing tissue. While Nicole did provide a good example, It was a little unclear how this process can revive a limb, and to what extent someone is not qualified for the procedure.
One fact about this procedure that was astonishing to me was how it can improve the quality of movement and have immediate and effective results.
ReplyDeleteNicolette did a lot of things well in her review of “Human Muscle Regrown on Animal Scaffolding.” In her review, she included a lot of information about the procedure of removing all of the living cells from a specific organ or tissue and leaving the proteins in order to replace broken tissue. She also explained very well the implications of the finding, as this can give hope to many people with muscle damage. She explained how not only can it cure them physically, but the surgery can also alleviate their mental burdens. She didn’t clutter her review with unnecessary information and was very to the point. She also did a good job reviewing the article and explaining how it was convoluted and unclear at times.
Although these were several positive components, there were a few things that I thought were missing from her article review. I feel as if Nicolette could have done a better job explaining the procedure of the surgery. I am interested to find out more about how the doctors came up with this solution to muscle damage. To me, it was unclear how doctors discovered this process. She also could have included more about how much the surgery costs and when it was first used.
I learned a lot from reading Nicolette’s review. I was surprised that replacing human cells with animal ones can heal tissue damage so effectively and instantaneously.
I didn’t know that it was possible to exchange cells from one animal to another. I was also surprised that it actually worked for someone, without any significant complications.
Nicolette does a superb job examining the present day phenomenon involving the possibility of using the extracellular matrix from animals to assist the regrowth of muscle tissue in humans. Although the idea is encouraging, Nicolette makes it clear that the procedure is very futuristic and may not reach its full potential. However, given the progress thus far, I hope it is a success. It is fascinating that foreign animal cells could be implanted into the human body to recreate muscle tissue that is damaged or missing.
ReplyDeleteAs for an improvement, Nicolette could have incorporated more information regarding the specifics when it comes to the actual removal and import of extraneous cells into the human body. I would like to find out more about the procedure and what exactly is done. She also might want to revise her review and change the order of some sentences to better phrase her argument. However, in this assignment, scientific analysis is most important.
One aspect of the article review that I was extremely impressed with was Nicolette’s examination and application of this new scientific process that uses a real world example of a man named, Sergeant Strang, who fought in Afghanistan. Despite his hardships, he amazingly was able to recover from this leg injury that was caused by a roadside bomb. This example proves the procedures relevancy.
I thought Nicolette did a very good job with her review of the article, "Human Muscle Regrown on Animal Scaffolding." She kept her summary very compact and did not drag it out or repeat any information. This is good because summaries are supposed to be concise and to the point and her summary did just that. Nicolette also did a good job in explaining how this will affect the world and people today. She talked about how it could help many injured soldiers and other people who have limb injuries. I liked how Nicolette included a lot of personal information about Sargent Strang, the man who this surgery was first preformed on, and how this procedure will effect him.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Nicolette's article review was very strong, there are a few places where she could have improved. It would have been good for her to go into more detail about how the pig urinary bladder helps to regrow damaged cells and for her to give more information about the procedure itself. It also would have been good for her to include a few quotes because these give a first hand source.
Overall I thought Nicolette's article review was very good. I found it amazing how human tissue can be regrown from a pig urinary bladder, and this shows that there is still hope for those people with seriously damaged limbs.