Device could mass-produce nano-patterned materials

Surfaces that are covered in particular nano-scale patterns have been shown to affect what type of tissue stem cells become when grown in a lab, without the need for hormones or other chemicals to direct the process.

A team of scientists from Manchester University is now planning to work with a manufacturer to develop and test a machine that can economically mass-produce these nano-patterned surfaces, which could also be used in the development of organic electronics.

‘What we want to do is to be able to grow cells in large numbers and then be able to use that essentially for a therapeutic purpose,’ project leader Dr Lu Shin Wong told The Engineer.

‘If you can control the behaviour of stem cells without having to add any of these chemical compounds, that would be very useful because you can then use this to effect behaviour through implanting devices [in a patient] rather than administering drugs.’