It is the third tissue bank in the country and the first for the Western Cape. Its aim is to address the need for donated tissue and tissue products in SA.
“SA has for many decades also been at the forefront of other important work to improve the health and wellbeing of our citizens. The tissue bank promises to build on this reputation in the tissue engineering field. This site will also be a place of learning and sharing information. I have no doubt that it will be a place of research, innovation and excellence which will help improve the lives and the health of thousands of people of SA.
“But there's no doubt that what would become possible in the field of tissue engineering in the future is beyond what any one of us is even able to imagine. Right now, we are aware that scientists around the world are developing ways to 3D printed tissues from people's own cells.
Prof Petro Terblanche, chairperson of the board of Bone SA, said the skills, knowledge and expertise brought together under the Bone SA and Vitanova umbrella are of a global standard. “We have the potential here to noticeably improve our approach to tissue donation in terms of availability of products.”
Dr David Thomson, a transplant surgeon and intensivist at Groote Schuur Hospital and the president of the SA Transplant Society, said despite efforts in making transplant advances in the country's select transplant centres, the country is still not offering the gift of transplantation effectively.