The goal of tissue engineering is to replace diseased or damaged living tissue with living tissue designed and constructed for the needs of each individual. Remarkable advances across many areas of science in the last decade have moved tissue engineering from promise to reality. Medical science is moving from transplantation into an era of design and fabrication of tissue and organ replacements.
Several tissue engineered products are already on the market.
Dr. Doctor's lab at Duquesne is involved in multidisciplinary studies of bone tissue engineering in collaboration with labs at Duquesne and at the Bone Tissue Engineering Center at Carnegie Mellon University. Current research in the Doctor Lab uses a broad range of approaches using cellular and molecular biology. Some projects include evaluating methods to culture bone cells in three-dimensions as cell delivery vehicles for bone tissue engineering, examining the hormonal control of bone cell development, and evaluating gene activated matrices for localized gene therapy in tissue engineering. Characterization of cuticular proteins in the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum. Insect Biochem. and Molec.