First Lab-Grown Contracting Muscle

Jan-17-15 Duke University researchers have created the first lab-grown muscle able to contract like a real muscle, offering scientists a new way to study how muscles respond to different therapies.

The team created the muscle using myogenic precursors, which are cells that have moved beyond the stem cell phase but are not yet fully developed muscle cells. After the precursor cells were expanded by more than 1000-fold, they were placed on a scaffolding filled with a nutritive gel, which allowed them to form functioning muscle fibers. In tests, the lab-grown muscle contracted in response to electrical stimuli—a first—and also responded to certain medications the same way as natural muscle would.

According to the team, the key to creating the muscle was "adjusting variables like cell and gel density and optimizing the culture matrix and media to make this work with human muscle cells."

More Info about this Invention:

[MEDGADGET.COM]
[PRATT.DUKE.EDU]

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