Scientists Are Growing Replacement Tissue to Repair the Human Body

What if doctors could repair damaged blood vessels or heart valves using living tissue made entirely from natural cells? Researchers at the University of Minnesota have spent decades developing a breakthrough regenerative medicine technology known as TRUE™ Tissue. Led by Dr. Robert Tranquillo, this university research focuses on growing fully biological replacement tissue that can repair the body without synthetic materials. Unlike traditional regenerative therapies that rely on artificial scaffolds, TRUE™ Tissue is created using donor cells that leave behind a natural, off-the-shelf tissue matrix. This living material can be used to form vascular grafts and heart valves, with the potential to grow and adapt inside the patient’s body. In pre-clinical studies, the research team demonstrated heart valves that grow with the recipient and show far less calcification than current animal-derived valves. This could dramatically reduce the number of surgeries required for children born with heart defects. Instead of multiple open-heart surgeries throughout childhood, this technology could one day make a single procedure possible. The technology has already reached important clinical milestones. In 2021, the first human use of TRUE™ vascular grafts was performed in patients with end-stage renal disease. The research has been supported for years by funding from the National Institutes of Health and validated through extensive peer-reviewed studies. Through technology transfer support from the University of Minnesota, this research was licensed to Vascudyne, a startup working to bring these living tissue technologies into hospitals and operating rooms around the world. This is how university research moves from the lab to real patients and changes lives. Subscribe to learn how academic research becomes real-world medical breakthroughs.