Thursday, January 14, 2010

Regenerative Medicine in US and China

Regenerative Medicine is a developing interdisciplinary field of research and clinical applications aimed at repairing, replacing or regenerating cells, tissues, or organs. Regenerative Medicine uses a combination of approaches including gene therapy, stem cell transplantation, tissue engineering, and the reprogramming of cell and tissue types.

An article in this month's Regenerative Medicine Journal states, "China has been able to catapult itself into the forefront of regenerative medicine" (Thorsteinsdóttir et al). While Chinese investment in stem cell research has increased by over US$40 billion in the past 14 years, and has increased its peer-reviewed publishing from 37 in 2000 to 1,116 in 2008, the emergence is in large part due to the lack of regulation.

According to the Toronto Sun, there are over 200 cases of clinics and hospitals offering completely unproven stem cell therapies for profit, greatly tainting China's emergence.

Meanwhile, while the founding of US-based biotech companies has slowed due to the high-price of research and development and FDA regulation, the United States has awarded generous grants to to Universities and research teams in Michigan and California to help economic development through regenerative medical innovation.

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