Scientists have successfully made yarn from animal skin cells
Scientists have successfully made yarn from animal skin cells
According to a new study recently published in the ActA biomaterialia, researchers from Bordeaux, France, have successfully synthesized a new type of yarn made from human skin cells. The scientist in charge of the study said the scientific breakthrough was inspired by the movie the silent lamb But it's not like in the movie that this technique is used to sew up wounds or make artificial blood vessels in the future.
In general wound suturing, doctors or nurses often use catgut or other synthetic materials made of engineering tissue. When our immune system detects something different from our tissue cells, inflammation will appear.
Skilled surgeons can use sutures to repair gaps in the skin and vital organs, but limitations on the immune system remain in the body's response to these helpful foreign bodies. Reactions to stitches can lead to increased scarring or infection, while soluble options (such as sheep intestine) can minimize such complications, but may also disintegrate prematurely, leading to painful and lengthy reconstruction. Human skin has been used to repair and replace damaged parts of the skin, but there are also limitations on the grafts removed from patients.
The new biological yarn allows surgeons to design tissue transplants or repair organs in ways that the immune system cannot detect. "We can sew up the pouch and make blood vessels, valves and perforating membranes," co-author Nicholas L'Heureux said in a statement With this yarn, which is made from animal skin cells, any textile method is possible: no problem knitting or even crocheting.
The breakthrough is based on the previous work of Leroux's team, which manipulates human skin's fibre cells to make thin sheets, which, when rolled into tubes, can act as artificial blood vessels. It is these sheets that are used to make yarns, because they are cut into strands and twisted into stronger threads. These threads can then be twisted to form yarns that can be dried and wound.
Although the yarn made from skin cells has many advantages, it can not replace all the synthetic fibers now, because some fibers provide the support of super rationality, that is to say, beyond the ability of the natural tissue it replaces. The Leroux team's bio yarns will never have the structural integrity to match polymers such as polypropylene, which is about 40 times stronger than bio yarns.
However, the yarn proved its value by successfully stitching a rat's wound, which healed completely 14 days later. The researchers even used a custom loom to further weave a blood vessel and transplant it into the artery of a sheep. The strong tube survived in the body, did not leak after insertion, and allowed normal blood to flow through the braided vessels. In the words of Leroux, "by spinning, once assembled, you can wear them."
This kind of yarn made of animal cells can not be used in human body at present. We hope that this technology can be further matured to weave into blood vessels or other body tissues, reduce more pain and save more lives.