Imagine a treatment that helps a grandmother weakened by heart failure to regain her independence. Imagine damaged organs regenerating and wounds healing without leaving scars. Imagine a child who desperately needs an organ transplant and can now smile again because he has a liver. Regenerative medicine is a relatively new approach to treating injury and disease; it uses specially cultured tissues and cells (including stem cells), laboratory-made compounds, and artificial organs. Variations of these methods can intensify the healing process in areas that need it most, or take on the role of a permanently damaged organ. Additionally, regenerative medicine is a new field that brings together experts in biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering, genetics, medicine, robotics and other fields to tackle challenging medical problems facing humanity. Importantly, regenerative medicine has the potential to address the shortage of organs available for donation relative to the number of patients requiring life-saving organ transplantation, as well as address the issue of transplant rejection of organs, since the cells of the organ will correspond to those of the patient. Strategies currently being developed include stem cell transplants, manipulation of the patient's own stem cells, and the use of scaffolding materials that emit biochemical signals to prompt the stem cells into action. This seems like an effective solution, but how effective is this process? How much time did scientists spend researching and developing this? The study of using stem cells in regenerative medicine has been initiated by many researchers over the past 10 years, but the methods are still being perfected and the long-term effects are still unknown to scientists. .. middle of article..... .r patient could possibly contain malignant diseases hidden in this tissue. The ethical questions linked to the implementation of these artificially synthesized organs also pose a threat. Personally, if I were put in the position of a patient in desperate need of an organ, I would be willing to lead the way in this new type of technology. Although there are many risk factors to consider, it is undeniable that bio-artificial organs are an effective substitute for organ donations. Perhaps receiving an organ synthesized by an individual's own cells wouldn't be such a bad solution. With some optimism, regenerative medicine techniques will be commercialized within ten years. Bioengineered organs have the potential to reduce the need for living donor organs, enable more deceased donor organs to be used rather than discarded, and reduce the transplant waiting list..