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Silicone fibers contain living human brain cells
What's Next Network ^ | 11/20/26

Posted on 11/27/2006 1:07:05 AM PST by LibWhacker

In a feat once as unlikely as the miller's daughter of fairytale fame spinning straw into gold, scientists in the United Kingdom have spun fine threads of biocompatible silicone that contain living human brain cells. The cells remained alive and capable of growth afterward, they say.

"This has far-reaching implications and will enable significant advances to be made in technologies ranging from tissue engineering to regenerative medicine," Suwan N. Jayasinghe and Andrea Townsend-Nicholson state in their report.

It appeared Nov. 13 in ACS' Biomacromolecules, a bimonthly journal. "The ability to electrospin biologically active threads and scaffolds of living organisms will be tremendously useful for the development of a whole host of novel bioengineering and medical applications."

Electrospinning is a well-established process for drawing fibers out of a thick polymer by use of an electric field. The scientists used an electrospinning approach in which a concentrated suspension of living cells flowed through a tiny inner needle while thick poly(dimethylsiloxane) flowed from an outer needle. The silicone material formed a fiber around the cells. One of the many topics awaiting study, the researchers said, is how the process affects the biological properties of the cells in the long term.


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; Technical
KEYWORDS: brain; cells; electrospin; fibers; silicon; singularity
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Okay, this seems slightly creepy.
1 posted on 11/27/2006 1:07:10 AM PST by LibWhacker
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To: LibWhacker

This is all the more astonishing when one considers how few human beings there are who contain living human brain cells.


2 posted on 11/27/2006 1:23:13 AM PST by Jack Hammer
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To: LibWhacker

Wow, now women have the option of smart silicone implants to increase brain power!


3 posted on 11/27/2006 1:32:00 AM PST by DB
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To: DB

We need the picture of that "I wish these were brains" chick. LOL


4 posted on 11/27/2006 1:37:01 AM PST by Tall_Texan (NO McCain, Rudy, Romney, Hillary, Kerry, Obama or Gore in 2008!)
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To: LibWhacker


"Maybe now I'll be able to read my diploma!"
5 posted on 11/27/2006 2:10:52 AM PST by UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide (Give Them Liberty Or Give Them Death! - IT'S ISLAM, STUPID! - Islam Delenda Est! - Rumble thee forth)
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To: Tall_Texan
ask, and ye shall receive...


6 posted on 11/27/2006 2:11:03 AM PST by sten
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To: UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide

7 posted on 11/27/2006 2:22:22 AM PST by LibWhacker
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To: LibWhacker

"The silicone chip inside her head gets switched to overload..."


8 posted on 11/27/2006 4:17:58 AM PST by PBRSTREETGANG
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To: LibWhacker

How else would one build smart cheese to combat the smart mice?


9 posted on 11/27/2006 5:06:47 AM PST by NonValueAdded (Prayers for our patriot brother, 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub. Brian, we're all pulling for you!)
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To: LibWhacker

If there's hope for the Scarecrow from Oz, there's hope for Al Gore.


10 posted on 11/27/2006 5:07:06 AM PST by IronJack (=)
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To: LibWhacker; wagglebee

More than creepy.


11 posted on 11/27/2006 5:10:11 AM PST by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
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To: LibWhacker

Rope that ties good knots in itself?


12 posted on 11/27/2006 5:40:33 AM PST by GingisK
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To: DB

......smart silicone implants....

the smart boob. It is a sure sell to moms who want their kid to get into a good kindergarten


13 posted on 11/27/2006 5:46:03 AM PST by bert (K.E. N.P. Rozerem commercials give me nightmares)
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To: LibWhacker

OK...I'll ask....

Where did they get the "living human brain cells" for this experiment?


14 posted on 11/27/2006 5:48:16 AM PST by G Larry (Only strict constructionists on the Supreme Court!)
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To: LibWhacker
Ya think?.....:]


15 posted on 11/27/2006 5:48:30 AM PST by Salamander (And don't forget my Dog; fixed and consequent.......)
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To: metmom

You wake up one morning thinking you've got to drop the kids off at school, go to the gym, pay some bills, shop for dinner, and . . . Oh, wait . . . You don't exist except as a collection of one-dimensional brain cells in a big bundle of wires and that technician over there is coming over here to unplug you . . . AAAIIIEEE!!!


16 posted on 11/27/2006 9:39:53 AM PST by LibWhacker
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To: AntiGuv

Future tech ping


17 posted on 11/27/2006 7:27:28 PM PST by Fractal Trader
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To: b_sharp; neutrality; anguish; SeaLion; Fractal Trader; grjr21; bitt; KevinDavis; Momaw Nadon; ...
FutureTechPing!
An emergent technologies list covering biomedical
research, fusion power, nanotech, AI robotics, and
other related fields. FReepmail to join or drop.

18 posted on 11/27/2006 7:34:28 PM PST by AntiGuv ("..I do things for political expediency.." - Sen. John McCain on FOX News)
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To: neverdem; potlatch; ntnychik; Smartass; Boazo; Alamo-Girl; PhilDragoo; The Spirit Of Allegiance; ...

spooky ping


19 posted on 11/27/2006 9:02:40 PM PST by bitt ("And an angel still rides in the whirlwind and directs this storm.")
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To: LibWhacker

Hey, them brain cells is mine! I only left them on the couch for a few minutes while I went to get another beer, and now they're gone. Would'a been wool fiber, but we just recovered the couch.

Dang, can't find my glasses, either...


20 posted on 11/27/2006 9:11:37 PM PST by USMCPOP (Father of LCpl. Karl Linn, KIA 1/26/2005 Al Haqlaniyah, Iraq)
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