‘Human Lego’ paves way for artificial organs
May 24th, 2010 - 12:36 pm ICT by ANILondon, May 24 (ANI): Hope to build artificial organs for human implantation has been boosted with the creation of Lego-like blocks made of human cells.
Javier Fernandez and Ali Khademhosseini at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have built a variety of living 3D shapes on a cell-by-cell basis, such as tubes and solid spheres.
Now, the experts anticipate constructing artificial tissues for human implantation with these blocks, reports New Scientist.
The researchers built the “human Lego” by dipping cells cultured from liver tumours into a polymer called polyethylene glycol (PEG).
The parcel was then hardened, or baked, with UV light to form bricks. Another coating of PEG made the bricks sticky, and they were placed in a mold. To fill any gaps, the whole structure was dunked in PEG a final time and irradiated once more.
Fernandez said, despite being trapped and baked within a polymer, cell staining shows that the cultured cells remained alive.
Earlier attempts to produce 3D cellular structures had failed because cells didn’t stick to each other, says Fernandez. PEG overcomes this problem.
However, Emmanuel Reynaud of University College Dublin in Ireland, pointed out polymer is not a tissue. He explained that the individual live cells are not communicating in this experiment, and “cells in a tissue have to communicate with each other”.
The study has been published in Advanced Materials. (ANI)
- New way to assemble artificial tissues developed - May 14, 2010
- Scientists think of new way of creating synthetic tissues - May 17, 2010
- Scientists closer to making transplantable tissue in lab - Jan 13, 2011
- New gel can restore damaged soft tissue - Aug 02, 2011
- MIT nanoparticle takes advantage of tumors' acidity to peel layers away - May 04, 2011
- Memory 'may be built with Lego-like building blocks of knowledge' - Mar 18, 2011
- Tasar silk could help heal damaged hearts - Jan 30, 2012
- New synthetic corneal implants to restore eyesight in blind patients - May 21, 2010
- Scientists grow human liver tissue for transplantation - Jan 21, 2011
- New personalized therapy to 'fool cancer cells into killing themselves' - Mar 01, 2011
- Sunless tanning spray may help heal post-surgery wounds - Jun 01, 2010
- Corneal prosthesis, boon for those blinded in accidents - May 21, 2010
- Body's own cells to keep us healthy in the future - Dec 15, 2010
- Surgeons conduct north India's first cartilage transplant - Nov 13, 2011
- New anti-wrinkle biomaterial mimics human tissue - May 30, 2011
Tags: 3d shapes, advanced materials, artificial organs, artificial tissues, bricks, cellular structures, cultured cells, dublin in ireland, human cells, implantation, liver tumours, massachusetts institute of technology, new scientist, peg, polyethylene glycol, polymer, reynaud, solid spheres, university college dublin, uv light