Using Humanoid Robots To Grow Human Organs [A Better Alternative To Organ Transplant]

Introduction

There is no disproving to the fact that there are shortages in the number of organ donors. A shocking revelation was made by the US Department of Health and Human, which stated that a whopping 114,947 people are on the list for transplantation (as at 1st May 2018), and it has also been indicated that this figure is being increased by at least one person per 10 minutes. Having this in mind, you won't be wrong to infer that the numbers of donors are far less than the people that need them. No wonder UNOS has stated that 20 people; in the waiting list; die daily. So what is the feasible panacea to this? Technology has found a solution; I welcome us to the era of biological substitutes.

[Image Source: Pixabay. CC0 licensed]

During one of our normal chats in the SteemSTEM's discord channel, @zest made some comments:

I personally have more belief in stem cell research...

... The actual replacement of body organs through stem cells of the individual... @zest

These words got me thinking; "Instead of people waiting for organ donation, can't organs be created from the patient's own cells?" This piqued my interest and I took a little study; but this time; not just on genetic engineering, cellular engineering, or tissue engineering, but I moved further into the possibilities of combining this with the robotic technology.

Growing human organs

Over the years, this has been a major achievement in the field of stem cell technology. At least we have seen lab-grown ears and even lab-grown nose through the engineering of stem cells. And as we may know, stem cells can be modelled to grow into any cell (this stem cells can either be embryonic or adult stem cells).

Here's a little tip for you before I continue: The first ever successful attempt of creating an organ artificially in the lab was made in April 2006, when a team of researchers from the Wake Forest University School of Medicine created a lab-grown bladder, according to this source.

But as it were, there are limitations with growing of organs in Petri dish and lab bio-reactors, as you can't compare them to the development of organs naturally in a human body. Just like what was said by Dr Pierre Mouthuy (Tissue Engineer)

There is no bio reactor better than the human body itself. - Pierre Mouthuy. Source.

But an idea was raised: "How about using a surrogate humanoid robot to get the job done faster and easier?"

[Image Source: Pxhere. CC0 licensed]

Surrogate Humanoid Robot

For the uninitiated; a humanoid robot is a robot that is designed to mimic the functionalities of the organic humans, even to the minutest details. Now, it has been considered that this biological mimicry of the human body by these robots can be leveraged upon to create a condition similar to that of the organic humans, which can support the growth of organs.

In view of this, a particular research has been heralded by a team of researchers from the Oxford University, led by Dr Pierre Mouthuy to create a humanoid robot-grown organ. Someone could ask "what humanoid robot would qualify for this?"

Let me draw your mind to a particular robot that was created in 2012; Embodied Cognition in a Compliantly Engineered Robot (ECCEROBOT), this was recognized as the first truly anthropomimetic robot that has the mimicry of the organic humans, even to the anatomical level. And yes! It possesses synthetic bones, tendons, and even muscles similar to that of the humans. But before this, and earlier humanoid robot; Kenshiro; had some similarities in the anatomical structure of the humans including the number of bones.

The researchers have proposed that these robots have human-like frameworks that could serve as bio reactors to culture organs. Firstly; according to Dr Mouthuy; attempts were made to incorporate protein nutrients (just like in the ones found in the conventional broth of the bio reactor), so as to support growth of organs. Also, the internal body of the robot would be lined with synthetic skin, to avoid interference with the robot's mechanical and electronic components (yes! Even though these are humanoids, they are still machines). You won't be wrong to call this "humanoid bio reactors". And according to one of the researchers; Dr Andrew Carr:

Humanoid bio reactors will ultimately be used to nurture complex organs and tissues. - Dr Andrew Carr. Source. [Paraphrased by me]

[Image Source: Wikimedia Commons. Public domain licensed]

According to the research team, this process would be initiated like the conventional stem cell engineering, which includes: harvesting of stem cells (which can be embryonic cells, bone marrow cells, or even from the blood using s specialized centrifugation process), but instead of using a bio reactor, these cells would be cultured using a surrogate humanoid robot.

And of course, the internal system of the robot would be incorporated with a 3D biological scaffold. The function of this scaffold is to give a specific shape to the cultured organ, so that it will function in maximum capacity as the biological organ being replicated. For example, skin can be grown for patients on the line for skin grafting. And very soon, it could be farewell to organ donation.

With advancement in this technology, we could be witnessing the emergence of another different type of robots, which are; "Biohybrid Humanoid Robots". These would be types of robots that would be powered at the cell level; just like humans, as against the use of electronics and machines to power them. Another truth is; advances have begun in the right direction.

[Image Source: Pixabay. CC0 licensed]

Advantages of using a surrogate humanoid robot as against human donor

• It eliminates the possibility of organ rejection. I mean, the organ was grown from your own stem cells, why should your body reject it?
• In some cases; it would be faster to grow the organ than to wait for a suitable donor (owing to the figure I gave earlier about people that die in the waiting list)

Reservations on this tech

• Cost: No doubt, this is on the high side currently, and may not be affordable by the average income earners. But maybe in the future, a cheaper substitute would arise.
• Ethics: This has raised some ethical concerns in some communities, but it is not uncommon with emerging technology.

Conclusion

The human body has been looked upon as biological machine by many. And if this is so, then it can be simulated and/or mimicked in an unnatural way. And as we have seen, advances have been made using humanoids to mimic these functions. And not only that, propositions have been made to use these surrogate robots to grow organs as against the use of the normal bio reactor. Though some may have some reservations in this, but in my opinion, it is still better than the option of dying while waiting for human donor.

Thanks for reading

References for further reading:

• Popsci/Humanoid-robot-organs
• UnexplainedMysteries/Biohybrid-robots
• Futurism/Robot-grown-organ
• Wikipedia/Humanoid-robot

All images are CC0/Public domain licensed, and are linked to their sources

gif by @foundation