“60 Minutes” Features Anthony Atala and Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine

A project to engineer a human ear is one of several efforts aimed to help injured servicemen and women.
The Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine was recently featured on the CBS news program “60 Minutes.” In an interview with correspondent Morley Safer, Anthony Atala, MD, institute director, explained the institute’s efforts to engineer 22 different organs and tissues in the laboratory.

The ultimate goal is to help solve the shortage of organs and tissues available for transplantation, as well as to develop cell therapies to restore function to damaged or diseases organs.

The report also covered how the science of regenerative medicine is being applied to battlefield injuries through the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine (AFIRM), a project that Atala co-directs. A federally-funded initiative, AFIRM has two consortiums made of up almost 30 institutions that are working to develop regenerative medicine therapies to help wounded warriors.

Watch Morley Safer discuss the research: “Morley Safer’s Notebook”

Watch the 60 Minutes segment