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Candy Coating Inspires Lab-Grown Blood Vessels
sciencehabit writes "Scientists have developed a water-soluble carbohydrate glass based on a decoration used on cakes and lollipops. The material can be cast into a variety of shapes, is completely nontoxic, and, when it has done its job, will dissolve naturally in the moist environment of lab-grown tissue, leaving behind spaces that can carry blood to cells. The advance solves one of the major problems of growing new organs in the laboratory."
WITH FREE DIABEETUS INSIDE!!!
Oh come on. You know someone had to say it.
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Thanks for that informative post. Taught me a lot.
Who can take a stem cell (background singers echo: The Candy Man)....
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Here's an official video overview from University of Pennsylvania: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VHFlwJQIkE
I wish I were old enough to put "Computer" on my resume.
I assume this is the same research as this story here:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16599-cotton-candy-makes-sweet-blood-vessel-copies.html
I saw a video of this on the newscast, and they guy had a $50 cotton candy machine on his lab table with a "DO NOT EAT" sign attached.
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A blood vessel isn't just empty space though. It has walls that expand and contract in response to various conditions. I assume normal vessels also resist intrusion.
As I read it this process does one of the following:
- reserves the space for the blood vessels to grow into a bit later (and perhaps marks it with growth factors to encourage vascularization along the paths.)
- provides a scaffold around which the blood vessels form, then dissolves away to leave the resulting vessels open.
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