Pittsburgh Region Middle School Students Participate in Hands-on Tissue Engineering S...( PITTSBURGH July 8 /- Have you eve...)

PITTSBURGH, July 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Have you ever wondered why a starfish can completely grow a new arm, but humans cannot? Or, how about the fact that a salamander can regenerate a severed leg, but human beings have to rely on man-made, prosthetic limbs? Many of us have asked the same questions for a long time and, in fact, many cutting-edge, "tissue engineering" researchers are beginning to find the answers. What's even more exciting is that much of this ground-breaking work is being done in our own backyard, with the Pittsburgh region recognized as a world-class leader in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

Tissue Engineering (TE) and Regenerative Medicine are revolutionary technologies that offer incredible hope to people with compromised tissue function. The challenge for is to help humans tap into their innate ability to regenerate damaged, diseased or compromised body parts -- Much like the Starfish and salamander! This requires a team approach and the coordinated efforts of biologists, chemists, physicists, engineers, computer specialists and physicians. For one week this summer, 48 middle school students across the Pittsburgh region will become a member of a tissue engineering team as they seek answers to the mystery of regeneration in the starfish and salamander and learn how tissue engineering might help humans be able to more easily accomplish what the starfish and salamander readily can.

The Pittsburgh Tissue Engineering Initiative (PTEI) has been long viewed as a leader in creating awareness and facilitating educational enrichment activities for professionals, educators, elementary and secondary students, college students, and post doctoral candidates. This summer, PTEI is providing two separate, one-week, hands-on tissue engineering summer camps during the weeks of July 7th to July 11th and again on July 14th to July 18th with camp headquarters at the University of Pittsburgh Center for Biotechnology and Bioengineering, l
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