Regenerative Medicine
Tempering the excitement associated with the emerging field of regenerative medicine is the challenge to safely progress from bench to bedside, often using animal models.
Individual animal models, an essential part of the research and development pathway, do not reproduce all of the features of human injury.
Currently most effort has focused on mouse models but it is generally recognised that larger animal models will increasingly play an important role in accelerating the route to clinical use.
Within Edinburgh expertise resides in a range of animal model systems ranging from rodents to livestock.
World leading research studying fundamental stem cell biology through to disease and tissue repair is carried out in the MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine.
Specific critical research mass exists for cancer, heart disease, diabetes, degenerative diseases (such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease) and liver failure.