We all know that genes influence how cells and tissues grow and develop, but new research has shed light on the importance of another factor: whether the environment around them is firm like Jell-O or fluid like honey. Researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and Harvard University studied the growth patterns of clumps of human breast tissue in hydrogels of differing densities, and found that liquid-like environments caused the tissues to develop and organize themselves differently than more solid environments. This research has important implications for understanding how organs develop, and how cancers might grow differently based on the local microenvironment where they form. The research will be published on Thursday, Dec. 1 at 11:00am ET in Nature Materials.
Tissue growth is affected by whether local environment is solid or liquid
Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard
/Public Release. This material from the originating organization/author(s) might be of the point-in-time nature, and edited for clarity, style and length. Mirage.News does not take institutional positions or sides, and all views, positions, and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the author(s).View in full here.
