The process of creating a hospitable environment for growing stem cells in a lab currently involves introducing animal protein to the cellular colonies, but this technique is incompatible with clinical use on humans. Another option is growing the stem cells on top of donated human tissue, but this comes with the potential for transferring an undetected disease to a treated patient. Now researchers at University of Surrey, UK and the University of California at Irvine have developed a new synthetic scaffold made out of carbon nanotubes that can support the growth of stem cells without any human or animal byproducts. Essentially, place stem cells on the carbon nanotube substrate, feed them nutrients, and watch them grow.
The researchers believe this development will speed up the eventual process of growing replacement tissue and organs in the laboratory, as well as relieve the need for using tissue donors for growing the stem cells.
Study in Applied Materials & Interfaces: Growth and Proliferation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells on Fully Synthetic Scaffolds Based on Carbon Nanotubes…
University of Surrey: NEW STEM CELL RESEARCH OFFERS ALTERNATIVE TO HUMAN AND ANIMAL CELLS…