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Artificial Blood Vessels Grow On Nano-Template

Posted by kdawson on from the hemo-the-magnificent dept.

Invisible Pink Unicorn writes "Researchers at MIT have found a way to induce cells to form parallel tube-like structures that could one day lead to tiny engineered blood vessels. The researchers found that they can control the cells' development by growing them on a surface with nano-scale patterning. The work focuses on vascular tissue, which includes capillaries, the tiniest blood vessels. The team has created a surface that can serve as a template to grow capillary tubes aligned in a specific direction. The cells, known as endothelial progenitor cells, not only elongate in the direction of the grooves, but also align themselves along the grooves. That results in a multicellular structure with defined edges — a band structure. Once the band structures form, the researchers apply a commonly used gel that induces cells to form three-dimensional tubes."

6 of 49 comments (clear)

  1. Tube-like structures by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Researchers dubbed these tube-like structures the "internets".

  2. I want a side of nanobots with this, please. by palegray.net · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I wonder how long until we see the creation of nanobots that can actually repair tissue (or construct new sections of it) at the cellular level using the raw materials around them (maybe via introduction of non-toxic "feeder compounds" into the bloodstream).

    --
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    1. Re:I want a side of nanobots with this, please. by anothergradstudent · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Just so you know, device biocompatibility (basically ensuring that the body won't freak out when you do something like input nanobots) has been a 50 year issue. There aren't many solutions - at best, current devices get encapsulated in fibrous tissue and attacked with random oxidative chemicals. Your nanobots are likely to get eaten by white blood cells and harmed within low pH peroxisomes.

      Just a thought....

  3. I can't wait for the Micheal Crichton thriller by StefanJ · · Score: 4, Funny

    It will have a simple title, like Vein , and be about a heroic surgeon who unearths the sinister truth behind a revolutionary new artificial blood vessel replacement technology, and after a long build up in which seemingly fully recovered trauma patients turn into super-powered . . .

    . . . well, I'd write more, but there's a screenwriters strike on, and I don't want to come across as a scab.

  4. How many more times? by Cally · · Score: 4, Funny

    MIT is not in charge of Gundam.

    --
    "None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." -- Goethe
  5. Re:This seems like a natural step... by the_humeister · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So will the anti-abortionists oppose this because the technology could potentially turn anything into a viable human?