First 'heavy mouse' leads to first lab-grown tissue mapped from atomic life
Scientists have created a 'heavy' mouse, the world's first animal enriched with heavy but non-radioactive isotopes - enabling them to capture in unprecedented detail the molecular structure of natural tissue by reading the magnetism inherent in the isotopes.
This data has been used to grow biological tissue in the lab practically identical to native tissue, which can be manipulated and analysed in ways impossible for natural samples. Researchers say the approach has huge potential for scientific and medical breakthroughs: lab-grown tissue could be used to replace heart valves, for example.
In fact, with their earliest research on the new in vitro tissue, the team have discovered that poly(ADP ribose) (PAR) – a molecule believed to only exist inside a cell for the purpose of repairing DNA – not only travels outside cells but may trigger bone mineralization.
"It was crazy to see PAR behaving in this way; it took six months of detailed analysis and many more experiments to convince ourselves," said Dr Melinda Duer from Cambridge's Department of Chemistry, who led the study, published today in the journal Science.
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http://phys.org/news/2014-05-heavy-mouse-lab-grown-tissue-atomic.html