Breakthroughs In Tissue Regrowth Give Hope to War Wounded

Breakthroughs In Tissue Regrowth Give Hope to War Wounded
Thursday, May 01, 2008

By Jana Winter

A Marine's replacement ear grows on the back of a mouse.
It's science fiction turning into fact.

A new Defense Department program to make U.S. soldiers whole again is developing cutting-edge medical technology that's regrowing human tissue, in some cases, on the backs of mice.

The Pentagon recently launched the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine or AFIRM, a five-year $250 million initiative in cooperation with researchers at Wake Forest and Rutgers that uses soldiers' own stem cells to grow skin, muscles, tendons and even bone.