Advancing Scaffold Technology
From Xinhua Online, a look at one area of progress in scaffold technology for tissue engineering: "If you put a soup of these cells on to one of our scaffolds, they sort themselves out into the right order ... Although the mechanism is not fully understood, the cells seem to be programmed to rearrange themselves into layered normal skin. These simple scaffolds helps the cells grow in a safe yet natural way. Over the short life of a skin scaffold, mimicking nature too closely isn't necessary. ... Having realized that smart cells with a dumb scaffold is the key, the professors and their team are perfecting a dissolvable skin scaffold for skin growth. It will be made from clinically-approved materials such as PLGA, a dissolvable polymer used in surgical stitches, and undergo clinical and laboratory testing over the next three to five years ... [the team] may go even further than skin grafts. They're also looking at scaffold technology to promote nerve or tendon growth."
Link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-08/26/content_5008756.htm