Daily Haiku / Senryu : Elastic

new elastic glue
clinical testing is next
internal wounds healed

         Senryu by M. Nakazato LaFreniere

Love it when people work together to make something cool. Researchers in the Northeastern United States and Sydney, Australia have created a new elastic protein-based gel which can be injected to seal internal wounds in a minute.  Ultra-violet lights set the glue.

Based on methacryloyl-substituted tropoelastin, a hybrid elastic protein, the gel is called MeTro for short.  Elastin is highly elastic human protein which allows tissue to stretch and shrink without coming apart like our lungs, heart, bladder and skin.  The body makes elastin by linking molecules of precurser protein Tropoelastin.  So this gel mimics the bodies natural abilities to stretch and contract even as it closes a wound.  They can even set duration the gel will last before it dissolves back into the body.

So far the glue has only been tested on rats and pigs.  Next step is clinical testing on humans. The scientists see many applications of this new gel including being able to treat folks with serious internal wounds at the emergency site and eliminating sutures and and staples in lung and other surgeries.

Let’s not forget, for every one destructive person creating chaos for hours, there are thousands out there working, spending their days, years and decades to make things better. These lives are often quiet; no headline splashes for them.  But in the long run, they are the ones that matter. Their changes will be built upon from others and silently or with fanfare integrated into society.

Here’s a toast to the good that people strive for.

References:

‘Squirtable’ elastic surgical glue seals wounds in 60 seconds: Emergency treatments could be transformed, saving lives, Science Daily, October 5, 2017

Scientists Have Developed Surgical Glue That Seals Wounds in 60 Seconds: This could save so many lives by David Nield, Science Alert, October 4, 2017

Scientists develop surgical super glue that seals cuts in seconds by Constance Gibbs, New York Daily News, October 5, 2017

A super-elastic surgical glue that sticks and seals in vivo, even when tissues are moving, Medical Press, October 4, 2017

“Engineering a highly elastic human protein–based sealant for surgical applications,” N. Annabi el al., Science Translational Medicine (2017)

Elastic Glue Can Seal Internal Wounds in One Minute by Kenny Walter, R&D Magazine, October 5, 2017

Researchers develop surgical glue that seals wounds in seconds by Allie Nicodemo, News at Northeastern University, October 5, 2017

Elastin, Wikipedia

Elastic
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