REDISCOVERING WONDERS.

• Author: Qubein, Nido

Dr. Anthony Atala joined High Point University President Nido Qubein in the Power List interview, a partnership for discussions with some of the state's most influential leaders. Interview videos are available at www.businessnc.com.

Anthony Atala is a superstar in North Carolina's medical research community. The physician is director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine. He's edited 25 books, published 800 journal articles and received more than 250 patents. Scientific American named him one of the most influential people in global biotech. Time has cited his work twice among the Top 10 medical breakthroughs of the year.

Atala was born in Peru and grew up near Miami. He earned a medical degree at the University of Louisville and worked at Boston Children's Hospital before moving to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in 2004.

This story includes excerpts from Atala's interview and was lightly edited for clarity.

How do you define regenerative medicine?

Regenerative medicine is really a field that takes in a lot of different aspects of science to basically help to regenerate your tissues and organs--to make them better--to make them healthier. And that's really, in a nutshell, the field.

Does regenerate mean recreate?

You're really recreating what's already there because your cells already have all the genetic information. Each cell in your body has the playbook of what it's supposed to do. So, it's really making sure you put them back in the same environment to let them do what they need to do.

We really need to take in that were not discovering anything. We're rediscovering the wonders of what created us. God created this universe, and we're just rediscovering the wonders that are there. It's amazing to see how much information goes to make just one cell. And how do we make sure we can replicate what nature already does so we can make it better for generations to come?

So if my liver is in bad shape, there's hope?

That is the goal of regenerative medicine. One thing to remember is nature made us with a 10-times reserve for pretty much all our organs. If you get chest pain, they rush you to the hospital, and find out that the blood vessel to your heart is over 90% obstructed. You did not get pain when that blood vessel was 80% obstructed. You only had the pain when it was over 90%. Same with your lungs. The question is, when that reserve starts giving out, how can we make sure that we refill the tank?

I would like my body...