DARPA Plans to Regrow Human Body Parts

[seemslikeadream]

http://www.itwire.com/content/view/24029/53/

U.S. Defense Department promoting tissue regeneration
by Jake Widman
Wednesday, 25 March 2009
!The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) has awarded a contract to a Massachusetts biotech company to research tissue restoration.


The recipient of the award is CellThera, a part of the Bioengineering Institute at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The US$570,000 contract is for one year with a second-year option.

This isn't DARPA or CellThera's first venture into tissue regeneration. In 2006, CellThera managed to reprogram skin cells from mice and humans to behave like stem cells. Under the current contract, the scientists will try to reprogram cells to grow new, functional skeletal muscle.

In a statement, professor Eric. W. Overstrom of Worcester Polytechnic's Department of Biology and Biotechnology, said, "This new award not only validates the important work CellThera and WPI are doing in the area of regenerative medicine, but...this work will help push the science closer to the clinic and closer to helping people recover from devastating injuries."