The idea is simple. First, they take an arm from a dead rat and put it through a process of decellularization using detergents. This leaves behind a white scaffold. The scaffold is key because no artificial reconstructions come close to replicating the intricacies of a natural one.
Category: biotech/medical – Page 3,124
Next Big Future: Conceptually Viable Brute Force Radical Life Extension
A team of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators has made the first steps towards development of bioartificial replacement limbs suitable for transplantation They had used decellularization technique to regenerate kidneys, livers, hearts and lungs from animal models, but this is the first reported use to engineer the more complex tissues of a bioartificial limb.
They took the leg from recently deceased rat and then:
* Over a period of 52 hours, infusion of a detergent solution removes cells from a rat forelimb, leaving behind the cell-free matrix scaffolding onto which new tissues can be regenerated.
* it is put in a specially designed bioreactor and after 2 weeks it is recellularized
* they graft some skin onto the fledgling leg, and the doctors had themselves their own, home-grown rat limb (minus the bones and cartilage).
* they attached it to a rat
What if instead of taking the leg of dead rat you took the leg of an old rat and recellularized it with its own stem cells.
Are new stem cell therapies miracles in a bottle–or just a dangerous form of snake oil? — Tyler Graham Popular Science
On a snowy evening in Brooklyn, New York, sweat is streaming from my pores, rolling down my face, back, and palms. I don’t know what the temperature is here inside the MRI machine, but “summer in the Sahara” seems about right. I keep thinking about how I should have shed my winter-weight pants and button-down shirt.
The lab technician chimes in over a microphone. He reminds me not to move or I’ll need to start the MRI over. Considering I’ve been here for 45 minutes, that doesn’t sound appealing. My eyes sting, and sweat has pooled in weird places. I imagine this is what Chinese water torture feels like. Add to that, I have a gadolinium contrast agent coursing through my body. The substance is supposed to highlight areas of inflammation, but it can also make you feel like you’re itching from within. Read more
The 12 Most Exciting and Surprising Collaborations in Digital Health
From time to time, I come across news covering collaborations between companies which are either promising or surprising. Sometimes both. A future full of science fiction technologies in medicine &…
The only wearable, wireless, continuously monitoring intelligent thermometer.
TempTraq is the first and only 24-hour intelligent thermometer that continuously senses, records, and sends alerts of a child’s temperature to your mobile device.
Hacking the Human OS — IEEE Spectrum
Medicine has always sought to understand the human body’s operating system. Now, with biometric sensors and big data analytics, we’re learning how to fix the bugs
L’Oreal Goes After 3D Printed Human Skin to Test Beauty Products — By Jason Dorrier
In Lyon, France, cosmetics company L’Oreal is growing human skin.
Each year, some 60 scientists cultivate 100,000 paper-thin skin samples in nine varieties simulating different ages and ethnicities—and then they test beauty products on them. Read more
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Selects 2015 Investigators
“The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) announced today that 26 of the nation’s top biomedical researchers will become HHMI investigators and will receive the flexible support necessary to move their research in creative new directions. The initiative represents an investment in basic biomedical research of $153 million over the next five years.”