Tissue Scaffolding

The basic strategy in regenerative medicine is to seed stem cells onto a fabricated scaffold that allows growth and development to take place. To advance this technique, researchers at MIT have used a fabrication machine typically found in making microelectronics to lay down thin layers of porous polymer for the scaffolding.  Lining up the pore patterns allowed more efficient growth, though the scaffolds may not yet be thin enough to regenerate, say, a fully-developed human heart. MORE

Image Credit: MIT and Techonology Review