1. Provide the title of your story or series and the names of the journalists involved.
World’s Untold Stories: Body From Scratch Executive Producers: Mike McCarthy, Sheri England Producer: Kristin Cuff Editors: Scott McGhee
2. List date(s) this work was published or aired.
23-Feb-10
3. Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
The field of regenerative medicine is turning what seems like science fiction into reality. Scientists and doctors around the world are harnessing the power of cells to reconstruct new skin, muscle, fingers, ears and noses. The Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine boasts the largest lab in the world “manufacturing” body parts. These are living organs built from scratch, made up of the same tissue found in the rest of the patient’s body. Dr. Anthony Atala takes a small piece of tissue from the patient, and uses those cells to coax more to grow outside the body. The scaffold on which the cells grow is biodegradable – it dissolves within the body once the patient’s cells have formed new tissue over its shape. At the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Stephen Badylak uses a different approach for regenerating tissue and organs. He’s tricking the body into repairing itself, by applying a substance from pig bladders called extracellular matrix. ECM recruits stem cells to the wounded area to help rebuild tissue instead of scarring. Dr. Badylak and Dr. Steven Wolf, chief of clinical trials at the U.S. Army’s Institute of Surgical Research, are collaborating on the first clinical trial of ECM. The participants are American soldiers with severe injuries from the battlefield. The Pentagon is investing 250 million dollars in regenerative research, hoping to regrow soldiers’ muscle and burned skin – and to develop transplant technology for lost limbs. Kaitlyne Mcnamara and six other patients received bladder transplants from Dr. Anthony Atala’s regenerative procedure; their new bladders were grown from their own cells outside the body. Almost ten years later, doctors say Kaitlyne and the other patients have long-term success. Dr. Stephen Badylak’s ECM procedure was applied to the esophagus of an elderly man with cancer, prompting his cells to create a new lining. The patient is now cancer-free, paving the way for a clinical trial in the near future. Dr. Stephen Badylak’s ECM procedure was applied to the sliced-off fingertip of six-year-old JJ Cardenas. In just ten weeks, JJ’s finger went from sliced off to completely regrown, fingernail and all – without a scar or any trace of the accident. U.S. Staff Sergeant Shilo Harris was the first person in the world to have ECM implanted into his body, regrowing part of his finger. Badly wounded with a wound to his thigh that reached all the way to the bone, Marine Corporal Isaias Hernandez also received treatment with ECM. ECM prompted his muscle, nerves and skin to grow back.
4. Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
For “Body From Scratch,” data and research was used from The Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, the U.S. Army’s Institute of Surgical Research, and the National Institutes of Health. The results of these studies helped us realize how effective the regenerative techniques were, by pointing to individual successes.
5. Explain types of human sources used.
Our human sources were Dr. Anthony Atala and his staff at Wake Forest University, Dr. Stephen Badylak and his staff at the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Steven Wolf, and patients Kaitlyne Mcnamara, JJ Cardenas, Shilo Harris, Isaias Hernandez, and their families.
6. Results (if any).
(N/A)
7. 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.
“Body From Scratch” has run multiple times on CNN International. There has been no correction or clarification on the report, and no one has come forward to challenge its accuracy.
8. Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
I think it helps with a program like “Body From Scratch” to have some background as a medical journalist. The technology and approach used by doctors in the regenerative medicine field is unfamiliar even to most other physicians, so a baseline grasp of current medicine is necessary. I would also encourage other journalists to push doctors for contact with a wide range of their patients. I found that sometimes the doctors were so cautious to protect the privacy of their patients and their nascent technology, that they were not always forthcoming. But when I did reach out to the patients, they were very excited to share their stories.