New Method Joins Human Cells with Plastic

Another quick post because this was too interesting to pass up (and just in case one of my other posts wasn't good enough ;) )

Biomedical engineers at the University of Texas at Arlington (WHOOP!) have recently discovered a protein that allows human cells to attach to a synthetic polymer. The T59 protein was found to be able to attach human cells to the polymer polypyrrole. The discovery was made by observing bacteriophages, all of which expressed a different protein surface coating, in a lab dish made of the polymer mentioned above. Further study of the ones that were able to stick to the dish led to the discovery of the protein. This finding has significance in the study of tissue engineering, drug delivery, and biomedical sensors.

http://www.whitaker.org/news/schmidt.html

Thomas Dietzman