How Does a Stem Cell Scaffold Work?
Ravi Kane is a biological engineer at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. He’s the scientist who has designed the “Stem Cell Scaffold.” In order for the stem cells to do their job and rebuild damaged tissues, they have to be kept in place long enough for the process to work. Microspheres containing the stem cells are made of alginate (a carbohydrate that comes from brown seaweed) the stem cells are supported in the alginate because it is a biological product with less chance of rejection by the patient’s body. The microspheres can also be used to carry medications to assist in the stem cell regeneration process. Kane has added an ingredient of a carbohydrate eater like alginate lyase so that the scaffolding isn’t permanent. Once the job is done, the alginate lyase devours the alginate “This is a modular system.There’s still room in the scaffold to put other types of microspheres inside,” explains Ravi Kane. This new technology not only delivers the “goods” for better pati
