Stop Chasing Groupon!

A recent article from Fortune discusses the exodus of VC funding from the life sciences space.  With all of the uncertainty taking place with healthcare reform, many VCs are shifting capital to IT.  The recent (and coming) high profile IPOs (See LinkedIn, Groupon, etc.) have many investors trying to jump on the bandwagon far too late in the game.  Hopefully this shift is only temporary and doesn't lead to a lack of capital for the next generation of  life sciences start ups.

Just Invent the Artificial Kidney...

Back when I was a biomedical engineering student at Tulane, my father was fascinated by my major and was constantly asking me about my coursework and career aspirations.  When it came time to start looking for jobs and going to work for "the man" - he  always joked that I should "just invent the artificial kidney" and then I'd never need another job again.  Over the years, that joke hasn't died and every now and then he ask me how the kidney project is coming along.

A couple of weeks ago, my father's jokes became a little less like science fiction.  News broke, that last month, a cancer patient in Stockholm was implanted with a synthetic trachea built from the patient's own stem cells. It was the first artifical organ designed with a patient's own stem cells.  Scientists from  created a y-shaped scaffolding that mimicks the structure of the trachea and then seeded it with the patients' stem cells.  As the process continued, they manipulated the stem cells so they took the appropriate form required.

Most agree that the need for an artificial kidney is overwhelming.  Nearly 90% of patients on organ transplant lists are awaiting a kidney transplant.  With news like that out of Stockholm, perhpas we are a just a little bit closer to reaching my father's goal. 

If you have some time, check out Dr. Anthony Atala's TED Talk about how he hopes to use a 3D printer to build artificial kidneys...