Chemical Engineering has proven itself to be very impactful and helpful to the healthcare industry. It has helped in the development of various modern devices and equipments one of them being Tissue Technology. Tissue Technology came to existence by borrowing pre-existing and better known biological methods such as cell culture. Tissue Technology had existed even before getting recognized as a separate field in 1987 requiring skill-sets of many disciplines such as chemical engineering, biomedical engineering, and cell biology. The earliest and most influential research papers were introduced by R. Langer and J.P. Vacanti with the main goal of tissue engineering being the replication of a natural tissue using polymers and biological cells in addition to bio-molecules which may finally result in an artificially engineered tissue. The process of making a semi-synthetic tissue includes numerous aspects. First of which is the identification of the kind of cells that can multiply under a suitable environment to create a matrix-like formation that is required for the process. Then a defined structure(scaffolds) is needed to direct its growth. And lastly, some biochemicals like cytokines are required to help to build the structure aiding its growth. Chemical engineering not only provided tissue engineering the technology needed in the form of bio-reactors but also helped to map out the number of unit operations and processes required to efficiently carry out the production. It also helps with the bio-mimetic design which is crucial for a product since it mimics natural biological tissue. Currently, there are several applications of tissue technology in the medical field. To start with, it can serve as an alternative for an organ transplant and can be used as a substitute for the existing dead tissue of the organ. The experiments on human subjects can result in multiple organ failure along with countless risks for the volunteer and the tests on animal subjects are known to be highly unreliable, an artificially made tissue can save us the lives of human volunteers and can be more reliable than an animal subject. Similarly, new cosmetics can also be tested on the synthetic tissue hence making the experiments effective and easier without harming anyone. Being such a revolutionary field it has infinite potential for future developments and can probably lead to the minimization of the need for organ transplantation and help to replace burnt skin with new skin. By pairing it with artificial intelligence we can maybe make a new body which can be an improved version of our own body. Therefore it can be concluded by saying Tissue Technology is a field of multiple disciplines that works to provide solutions for problems that cannot be solved through existing ways and chemical engineering plays a huge role in it. If it were not the case the ‘body’ of tissue technology would have a heart- shaped hole in it.
By: SARTHAK DUBEY ( Core Member of AIChE-VIT )
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