Heart tissues in the laboratory

2007/12/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Bioteknologia
• Anatomia/Fisiologia

A team of researchers at Harvard University has developed rat heart cells on a polymer surface (polydimethylsiloxane) and managed to move the cell layers formed as the fibers of a normal heart, that is, contract them and relax them. Heart tissues were raised several times before, but so far no one had managed to imitate the movement of a heart. In addition, the generated fabrics have been easily cut and shaped. Depending on the appearance they have been given, they have managed to move in one way or another: for example, progress contracting and relaxing in a solution, such as a dock.

Once the experiment began, the objective was the development of tissues that allow its use in medicine, and now, given the functioning of the tissue, they intend to give it many more uses, such as imitating the swimming movements of some extinct species, replacing worms with fishing baits, and performing microrobots that travel for themselves through the circulatory system for their elimination in case of obstruction.