Blood Is The Self-Healing Material Of The Future

Blood Is The Self-Healing Material Of The Future

By Shinji Tutoru

MASSACHUSETTS INSITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, MASSACHUSETTS, USA. Scientists have recently discovered how blood clots form and right now, they are trying to use the same method in creating a new type of materials. The first thing that happens during a blood clot is that a delicate membrane inside the human body tears open. From this tear, fluids that are not supposed to get past the membrane are gushing through.

We don’t really feel this tear as it happens because it is too small. However, the inside part of the body gets a lot of this type of leak in a matter of seconds. As the membranes get torn, several long and sticky molecules uncoil due to the sudden torrent. These molecules form little globs that get tangled up with other globs which then turn into a blob that plugs the leak. It serves as a temporary patch which keeps the leak under control.

This entire process was necessary for MIT materials scientist Alfredo Alexander-Katz and his team in order for them to find a way to replicate the same process outside the human body. Only this time, they are trying to create synthetic materials that heal and assemble by itself using slightly different ingredients.

It turned out that the coiled up biopolymers (von Willebrand factor) uncoil during a leak in a membrane because of the speed of the fluid that runs through it. The fast flow forces the biopolymers to uncoil. The only problem about it is that this process goes on continuously which means plugs would form in the bloodstream constantly.

To balance the formation of plugs, another kind of membrane comes around and cuts the plug to smaller pieces just like a pair of scissors. That way, blood clots do not form. However, this molecular scissors may not be able to keep up when the flow rate increases because the biopolymer grows stickier as it stretches.

The way the biopolymers heal and assemble by itself is what the MIT scientists are more interested with. They are aiming to unlock the potential to use the process in creating new kinds of coatings, pigments, inks and even self-healing tires in the near
future.

Invention Self-Healing Material (Blood)
Organization Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts, USA
Researcher Alfredo Alexander-Katz & Team
Field(s) Biomimicry, Materials Science & Engineering, Polymers, Self-assembling Materials, Chemistry & Chemical Engineering
Further Information POPSCI

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