Bio-Scaffold image (via Charles M. Lieber, Daniel S. Kohane, & Harvard)
Everybody remembers the scene in Terminator 2 where Arnold rips the cyborg skin from his arm, that day is almost here (the cyborg skin that is), according to some scientists from Harvard university. The science team developed the ‘cyborg’ tissue, outlined in a recently released paper entitled ‘Macroporous nanowire nanoelectronic scaffolds for synthetic tissue’, by embedding 3D nanoscale wires constructed to form a tiny scaffold-like shape into engineered human tissue.
These scaffolds can be ‘seeded’ with cells that eventually form bio-tissue that can be used for a myriad of applications, which include the testing of new drugs in a 3D environment rather than 2D layer. The process of constructing the scaffolds is similar to etching microchips; first the team laid-out a 2D substrate mesh consisting of organic silicon encompassing nano-wires (used as sensing elements for varying electrical currents). They then attached nano-electrodes to the mesh itself which allow nano-wire transistors to measure the electrical current without harming the bio-cells.
Once the mesh is finished, the substrate is then dissolved. It leaves a mesh net that can then be manipulated into 3D shapes, which can then be seeded with cells that grow and intertwine on the mesh itself. For validation. the team grew both heart and nerve tissue using the embedded nano-scaffolds without damaging the cells. They were successful at measuring electrical signal changes from the cells using cardio and neurological drugs.
The scientists state that the ‘cyborg’ tissue might one day ‘be used to monitor changes (damage) inside the human body and react accordingly’ either through chemical release or electrical stimulation. While we may never be able to send a cyborg back in time to destroy the leader of the human resistance, engineering the skin to outfit the cyborg may be closer than you think.
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