Scientific Basis for the Design & Illustration of Design

Scientific Basis for the Design & Illustration of Design

Generic Heart Engineering

To engineer a heart, the pathways to its formation through stem cells must first be discovered through one genome line that is as healthy as possible (i.e. no signs of an genetic disorders, especially related to oncogenes, no family history of heart problems). Then a process could be made to grow a heart in vitro through the use of the right cell signaling, transcription factors and hormones. After this process is perfected, the genome could be screened again for any deleterious mutations that may have formed during this learning process. If any are to be found, then they could be excised through some method involving highly specific endonuclease (restriction factors) so only the specified site is affected. After this phase, the issue of foreign tissue rejection can be dealt with.

The issue that comes up with all transplanted tissues is foreign organ rejection. This problem arises from the body’s specific immune system that can recognize “self” from “nonself.” It does this through various immune system molecules like antibodies, macrophages, B-cells and T-cells. But each of these “finds” a “nonself” tissue through foreign surface molecules. The most important surface molecule in this process is called a MHC (Major Histocompatibility Complex). These are a sort of “I.D. card” that the immune system recognizes. These are highly variable in humans,