A few weeks ago, Molly and I had the incredible opportunity to tour the laboratory and research center of Dr. Anthony Atala, a pioneering scientist and surgeon who heads the Winston-Salem based Wake Forest University Institute of Regenerative Medicine. Dr. Atala was brought down from Harvard University in 2004 to establish the Institute, and his entire Boston-based staff followed him to North Carolina. This guy is a total badass who has been given a multitude of media coverage, including Fast Company, Esquire, The New York Times, CBS and PBS to name a few.
Dr. Atala is a pediatric urologist by trade, but has obviously crafted an entirely new gig since embarking on the human tissue and organ engineering hobby. The fact that his laboratory is located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina is just mind boggling. This man is breaking new ground on a daily basis, and has been doing this for the past twenty years. He is the international leader in this field, and the potential of his work is world-changing. This man can grow tissue, organs, bone, cartilage, muscle, arteries and scores of other body parts using existing cells from a patient's body. We are not talking about embryonic stem cells, which are controversial and prone to tumors, we are talking about using a patient's own biopsied cells that have no risk of being rejected once reimplanted. This is science fiction turned real life.
Molly and I first met Dr. Atala on Halloween, just days after moving back to Winston-Salem. We were living with Molly's parents at the time, and our job was to hand out the candy. That evening, he walked his two sons up to the door, introduced himself and offered us a personal tour of his facility. Needless to say, his sons received more candy than other trick-or-treaters that night. Molly's father (Henry/Poppie) knows Dr. Atala fairly well from the neighborhood, so he knew who we were and was aware that we had moved back into town. Over the years, Dr. Atala worked closely with some of the doctors that Mary Grace had seen in Washington, many of which advised us to read more about his accomplishments and future goals. Being somewhat educated on his mission, we jumped at the chance to see firsthand what he was actually doing at the Institute.
I wanted to bring a camera with us to get some pictures of the Institute, but that was not allowed. The security at this place is pretty tight; we had to clear a few different stations before we even entered the actual facility. Once we made it to Dr. Atala's office, we knew we were about to see something astonishing. Dr. Atala started by explaining the history of his accomplishments, which included growing bladders, skin and other more basic tissues. Since then, his projects have become much more complex, but amazing nonetheless. We are not only talking about growing organs for transplantation, but also using cells for additional reasons such as therapy. For example, healthy bone marrow cells could someday replace the need for donors in the treatment of bone cancer. Not only that, but these healthy cells would be taken from the patient's own body. These cells are truly those of the patient, not merely matches from other people. In addition, Dr. Atala is providing a new hope to patients who have suffered tissue or organ damage from trauma. This is one major reason why the United States Department of Defense is funneling a good deal of money into the Institute. With the incredible advancements that we have made in medicine over the past decade or so, many soldiers are surviving incidents that previously would have killed them. One negative side effect is that we have soldiers returning home with missing limbs, paralysis and other horrible afflictions. Regenerative medicine has the potential to address these issues and possibly render them curable. Dr. Atala was even appointed as the director of the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine.
After his presentation, we began our tour of the facility. He talked us through the process in a way no one else could have done. Somehow, he made us feel as though we totally understood cellular and molecular biology. We felt right at home... He explained the process of extracting cells, breaking them down and preparing them for the process of regeneration. This is where it gets crazy. Dr. Atala uses standard Hewlett-Packard ink jet printers to spray the cells onto what are essentially scaffolds of the desired organ. He even uses old ink jet cartridges donated from the University. They sanitize the cartridges, fill them with the appropriate cells and enter the genetic topography of the organ into the printer. The printer then sprays out the cells onto a scaffold and within hours the process is complete. The organ is then placed into a special "oven" that simulates the temperature and environment of the human body, where it continues to grow and strengthen itself. Because these cells are healthy cells that were created to do a specific job, they automatically know what to do. Once a heart valve, for instance, is constructed, it automatically knows that it is supposed to open and close itself. The same thing goes for the human heart. It simply knows how to pump blood. Put the cells together, and the organ just goes to work. It is downright amazing.
Molly and I were able to see many different types of tissue, organs and even bones on our tour, some of which would be used in actual patients, but most of which were still being researched. The whole experience was not only extremely interested, but also very humbling. To know that there are people in this world dedicating their lives to such meaningful and imperative work makes you question how you spend each day of your own life. Here we have a man who ignored people when they told him that he would not be able to grow a new bladder for a child with Spina Bifida and successfully did it anyway. You would expect Dr. Atala to have a tremendous ego, but he does not. In fact, he is one of the most soft-spoken, humble, kind and caring people I have ever met. After the tour, he asked us to talk with him in his office about Mary Grace, our concerns, our hopes and expectations. This man had absolutely no time to do this, but he did it anyway. He spent an afternoon with us because he cares more about getting his message out to those who could possibly benefit from his work than those who will make him famous.
I want to make it clear that we do not expect Dr. Atala to grow Mary Grace a new hand. We don't want that. That is not our goal. We honestly do not think we could even make that decision for Mary Grace if it were even a possibility at this time. We have been presented with various "options" over the past year-and-a-half, none of which appeal to us. Mary Grace has not shown us any reason why she needs help in any way. She crawled without any issues, she holds things with both hands and continues to use both hands relatively equally to this day. She surprises and amazes her doctors every time we see them; we are so proud of her. The main reason that we want to stay on top of relevant advancements such as regenerative medicine is because we feel as though we have been given the duty to do so. I want to be educated on every possible option so that when Mary Grace is of the age to have these discussions, we have done our homework. We have a responsibility, and we take it seriously.
I have said this before, but growing up, my best friend had the exact same hand anomaly as Mary Grace. Now, I happen to live down the street from the world's foremost expert on regenerative medicine. I truly feel as though these things have happened for a reason. I want to remain mindful of the blessings that we have been given in what would otherwise be viewed as a hardship. We do not see Mary Grace's hand as unfortunate. Sure, it is going to be very hard when she gets old enough to know that she is different. Thinking about that breaks my heart in a way that I cannot even begin to describe. But we know that those things are merely diversions from what has been - and will continue to be - a life experience that is a little bit richer than what we expected. I feel that through our journey we have been blessed with - or at least awakened to - a deeper understanding of the true, heart bursting joy of loving a child. There is nothing more valuable or pure in this world.
Dr. Anthony Atala
