Over the weekend, I saw before and after television footage of Connie Culp, the first person in the US to have a full face transplant. The success of the procedure is interesting scientifically but while the after was definitely a step up, it seemed like there has to be a better way of going about facial reconstruction. 

A group of doctors in England are about to perform a stem cell procedure that seems like a better alternative to facial transplants. Stem cells are placed into a bone shaped mould to grow the part that the patient needs. The part (jaw, skull or cheek bones) is then implanted into the patient’s back, beneath their shoulder, where it can “grow”. 

The team, led by Iain Hutchison, will make the first attempt to grow replacement bone from a patient’s own stem cells in Britain.

The procedure involves constructing a mould in the shape of the bone required and filling it with the patient’s bone marrow. This contains stem cells which can be persuaded to grow into different types of tissue. A genetically modified protein coaxes the stem cells to grow into bone.

The mould is then inserted into the patient’s back muscles below the shoulder blade where it establishes a blood supply from the patient.

It is left to grow there for three to six months when it will be transplanted onto the patient’s face.

According to Hutchison, the stem cell procedure also has advantages over existing techniques of removing bones from other parts of the body.

“This bone would be exactly the right size. We would overcome the need to remove bone from the hip or the leg which can cause defects or disease where the bone has been removed.”

The procedure, which has already been performed successfully in Germany, is preferable to face transplants both in risks and aftercare. Facial transplant patients are required to remain on immunosuppressant drugs for the rest of their life while the bone growth patients are not.