Slashdot Mirror
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."
Who can take a stem cell (background singers echo: The Candy Man)....
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
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.
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.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way