- http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/16/health/research/scientists-make-progress-in-tailor-made-organs.html?pagewanted=all
- http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/17/health/research/human-muscle-regenerated-with-animal-help.html?ref=research
- http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/18/health/research/using-the-body-to-incubate-replacement-organs.html?ref=health
Provide names of other journalists involved.
Mary Ann Giordano, series editor.
List date(s) this work was published or aired.
Sept. 16, 17, 18, 2012
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
For decades, the field of regenerative medicine has been promising a future of ready-made replacement organs — livers, kidneys, even hearts — built in the laboratory. For the most part that future has remained a science-fiction fantasy. Now, researchers are taking a different approach, using the body’s cells and letting the body itself do most of the work. They hope to build complex organs with the cells, blood vessels and nerves to become a living, functioning part of the body. Researchers are making use of advances in knowledge of stem cells. They are learning more about scaffolds, compounds that act like mortar to hold cells in their proper place and that also play a major role in how cells are recruited for tissue repair.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
Articles in publications like the Lancet, JAMA, and other journals; books about tissue engineering.
Explain types of human sources used.
The doctors who were doing the research, other doctors and researchers in the field of tissue engineering and, most important, the patients themselves.
Results:
The stories generated hundreds of reader comments. A typical one, from a reader in Atlanta: “Utterly amazing! And this is just the beginning. Who knows what we’ll be capable of in 20 or 30 years.” Henry Fountain said: “I got a number of e-mails from scientists in the field who thought I did a very good job explaining tissue engineering and in particular avoiding the usual hype.”
Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
No corrections or clarifications.
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
Spend a lot of time studying the subject before deciding what the story is. Tissue engineering is a very complex field, and its only gotten more complex in recent years as researchers have focused much of their work on stem cells. It’s tempting to focus on the science-fiction aspects of the work, but the reality is far more complicated and, ultimately, far more interesting.