Bioprinted Heart Tissue Minimizing the Risk of Transplant Rejection
“We are using the patient’s own stem cells so that there’s no risk of rejection.”
Dr. Carmine Gentile
Dr. Carmine Gentile’s lab in Sydney is developing bioprinted heart tissue on demand with patient-specific cells to minimize the risk of transplant rejection.
There is currently no way to repair damaged heart muscles from heart attacks, so many patients around the world wait on long heart transplant lists. Even for the lucky few who find a matching donor, there are more hurdles (i.e., organ viability, geographical distance, immune rejection). Therefore, heart disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, 17.9 million lives are lost each year to cardiovascular diseases.
Dr. Carmine Gentile, leader of the Cardiovascular Regeneration Group at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), announced in 2020 that his lab had “developed a technology that can 3D model and bioprint personalized hearts for transplantation, using the patient’s own stem cells so that there’s no risk of rejection.” Specifically, the technology identified the optimal conditions for cells to create blood vessels within bioprinted heart patches.
