University of Ottawa biophysicist Andrew Pelling and his team have developed a low-cost method to grow human ears without the need for animal or human components. Utilizing apples and biohacking their cell structure, the team has been able to grow the ears and even implant them onto a mouse.
The grown human ears come as a revolutionary new approach to implants and could be a stepping stone towards more biomaterial being crafted from readily available sources such as food. Regarding the implant itself, Pelling said that, "There was no immune response or rejection and you even get new blood vessels growing inside of the scaffolds." This comes as an important milestone for the research team as well as others within the healthcare field.
What's Driving This Trend
- Cell-based Implants
- The development of cell-based implants using unconventional materials presents disruptive innovation opportunities in the healthcare industry.
- Biohacking
- The innovative use of biohacking techniques, such as altering cell structure with apples, opens up possibilities for disruptive advancements in biomedical research and development.
- Biomaterial Innovation
- The exploration of using readily available sources, like food, to create biomaterials could lead to disruptive innovations in various industries, particularly in healthcare and biotechnology.
Who This Affects Most
- Healthcare
- The development of cell-based implants and novel biomaterials presents disruptive innovation opportunities in the healthcare industry.
- Biotechnology
- The application of biohacking techniques and the use of unconventional materials for implants provide disruptive innovation opportunities in the field of biotechnology.
- Bioengineering
- The advancement of cell-based implants and the exploration of biomaterial innovation offer disruptive opportunities in the bioengineering industry.
