idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Due to rising life expectancy, society is facing an increase in degenerative and traumatic disorders that are of great relevance for health policy as they cause considerable cost. Combating them adequately will only be possible by developing innovative regenerative therapies. Regenerative biology is therefore an up-and-coming discipline, and recent developments in material sciences, particularly in the area of nanotechnology, hold the promise of having great impact in this emerging field. The workshop will discuss the interaction between animate and inanimate matter and will focus on the impact they might have on regenerative biology. The surface properties of engineered materials determine significantly the behaviour of cells in contact with them. Thus, the development of novel biomaterials and the design of their surface will be dealt with, as well as the cellular processes underlying regeneration. This new interdisciplinary field involves biology, physics, chemistry and engineering and it has implications both in basic research and in clinical applications.
Great efforts are being undertaken worldwide to bring together biology and medicine with engineering and natural sciences, and it is important that research in Europe is not left behind. In consideration of this, at Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe we are reorganising our research and development activities to build a focus on regenerative biology utilising the interdisciplinary environment and expertise particularly in the materials sciences, and we see the workshop as an integral part in this process. With these things in mind, in the workshop we plan to bring together experts mainly from Europe who cover a wide range of different areas ranging from developmental biology, stem cell research, chemistry, material science, medicine and pathology. The workshop is intended to identify the most ardent and challenging questions in the field of regenerative biology, and to organise a network of scientist who will collaborate in trans-national projects on the basis of a pan-European funding. Synergies and novel research avenues are expected from this interdisciplinary discussion forum.
Focus of the workshop
Although our knowledge of fundamental biological processes has increased rapidly in the last decades, we are nonetheless often still far from being able to bring them into medical application. Our knowledge about the biology of stem cells in particular is still very vague, and is therefore an important theme in the workshop. In particular, adult stem cells have a great potential in regenerative strategies. We know very little about the niches of adult stem cells, the factors that maintain them and the signalling systems that activate them. It is believed that interactions with the extracellular matrix and other types in the surrounding stroma are important for keeping stem cells in a pluripotent state, for regulating their differentiation and for their survival. The extracellular microenvironment also plays a very important role in other aspects of tissue repair and regeneration, and is therefore also a major topic in the workshop.
To be able to modulate tissue regeneration, it will be vital to understand fully the biology of repair processes. For example, what determines whether a damaged tissue forms scar tissue or properly regenerates? Furthermore, basic developmental programmes are often reiterated during regeneration, pointing to the importance of understanding the role and regulation of these programmes and their relevance to tissue regeneration. These major themes will also feature strongly in the workshop.
If we were able to mimic the appropriate environments in vitro, we should be able to propagate stem cells in vitro before re-implanting them into the patient. Alternatively, it is conceivable that tissues could be engineered in vitro from stem cells. Novel cell culture systems with tailor-made growth and support surfaces in two and three dimensions may provide solutions in this direction. As an extension to this idea, the development of new materials that can be implanted into the patient and which would selectively stimulate regeneration by providing docking sites for stem cells holds great promise. Thus, the comprehensive understanding of the interactions between living cells and the innate surfaces provided by material sciences and nanotechnology will be of utmost importance for the development of novel regenerative strategies. The exploitation and application of biomaterials and bioengineering will therefore also be a major theme in the workshop.
Although we still have a lot to learn about the process of regeneration and how to stimulate it therapeutically, nevertheless we are already at a stage where there are many possibilities for translational research and application, in which the marriage of biology and materials science plays a major role. The workshop will therefore conclude with a session addressing the state of the art of current clinical applications, which will point the way forward to further exploitation.
Hinweise zur Teilnahme:
Die Teilnahme an der Veranstaltung ist kostenlos.
Termin:
24.09.2006 ab 19:00 - 26.09.2006 15:00
Veranstaltungsort:
Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe
Center for Advanced Technological and Environmental Training
Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1
76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen
Baden-Württemberg
Deutschland
Zielgruppe:
Studierende, Wissenschaftler
E-Mail-Adresse:
Relevanz:
international
Sachgebiete:
Biologie, Chemie, Ernährung / Gesundheit / Pflege, Informationstechnik, Mathematik, Medizin, Physik / Astronomie, Werkstoffwissenschaften
Arten:
Eintrag:
26.07.2006
Absender:
Inge Arnold
Abteilung:
Stabsabteilung Presse, Kommunikation und Marketing
Veranstaltung ist kostenlos:
nein
Textsprache:
Englisch
URL dieser Veranstaltung: http://idw-online.de/de/event17746
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