The ‘Trpzip’ material will reform after being squished, fractured, or after being expelled from a syringe. Photo: UNSW Sydney
Scientists at UNSW Sydney have created a new material that could change the way human tissue can be grown in the lab and used in medical procedures.
The new material belongs to a family of substances called hydrogels, the essence of life’s ‘squishy’ substances found in all living things, such as cartilage in animals and in plants like seaweed. The properties of hydrogels make them very useful in biomedical research because they can mimic human tissue, allowing cells to grow in a laboratory.