In murine embryonic stem cell (mESC) cultures EB formation is inhibited by the inclusion of leukaemic inhibitory factor (LIF) in the medium. UK Centre for Tissue Engineering: Prof.Embryoid body (EB) formation forms an important step in embryonic stem cell differentiation invivo. This is one step on the road to creating artificial bone marrow outside the body and produces any given blood type.Īlthough this is a long way off, it means the treatment of bone marrow diseases like leukaemia could become easier and more effective. Gerard Markx and his research team have so far created tissue 200 microns thick. Most important of all is the fact that the cells can be kept alive and active. The use of electricity gives greater control over cells than is currently possible, because by varying the voltage and using different shapes, cells can be positioned and stacked on top of each other in any pattern.ĭifferent electric fields attract different types of cells. The cells are attracted to the regions between two electrodes where they build up in layers and tissues are formed. It uses electric fields to build up layers of cells to form tissue and is being used to create hematons - aggregates of blood producing cells essential in the function of healthy bone marrow.Ĭhemical engineer Gerard Markx has developed the technique based on a phenomenon called dielectrophoresis. Scientists at the University of Manchester have developed a new technique which uses electricity to engineer human tissue. Quentin Cooper is joined by Quijote scientist Dr Sima Adhya of QinetiQ, and by Professor Alan Fitzsimmons from Queens University Belfast who is a member of ESA's NEO Advisory Panel. In each of them, one spacecraft, called Sancho, will go into orbit around an asteroid, survey it with great accuracy and then look on from a safe distance while the second, Hidalgo, lunges at the asteroid at a speed of 10 km per second. Three different consortia are drawing up plans for a mission to test the technology for diverting NEOs ESA will then select the best. But with enough notice, just a slight nudge could make such an asteroid miss us by a safe margin. It's estimated that one about a kilometre across might collide with us every 300,000 years, unleashing the energy equivalent to all the world's nuclear arsenal detonating at once. There are probably more than a thousand NEOs - Near Earth Objects - that cross the Earth's orbit and that could one day hit our planet. It's appropriately named Don Quijote, and it could lead to a way of saving humanity from global catastrophe.
Trying to nudge astronomical objects into new orbits might sound as futile as jousting with windmills, but it's the goal of a new European Space Agency mission now being planned. There are fascinating scientific aspects to everything from ancient history to the latest gadgets, outer space to interior decorating and each week on The Material World we try to reflect the excitement, ideas, uncertainties, collisions and collaborations as science continues its never-ending voyage into the unknown".Īn artists' impression of the impactor spacecraft smashing into an asteroid while observed by the orbiter spacecraft "For me science isn't a subject, it's a perspective. Each week scientists describe their work, conveying the excitement they feel for their research projects. Quentin Cooper reports on developments across the sciences. This page has been archived and is no longer updated.
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