WHILE SOME SCIENTISTS DO THEIR RESEARCH LOOKING UP – OTHERS LEARN NEW THINGS LOOKING DOWN AT TEST TUBES IN A LAB!
ONE EXAMPLE IS THE BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH TEAM AT WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE. BIOMEDICINE IS THE INTERSECTION OF NATURAL SCIENCES, LIKE BIOLOGY, AND MEDICINE. BIOMEDICAL RESEARCHERS LOOK FOR WAYS TO SOLVE HEALTH PROBLEMS THROUGH NATURE – AND, WHILE EVERYONE KNOWS THAT SPINACH IS A HEART HEALTHY FOOD – BIOMEDICAL SCIENTISTS IN MASSACHUSETTS HAVE FOUND A WAY TO TAKE THE SUPERFOOD'S HEART BENEFITS TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL!
JEREMY ROTH HAS MORE.
SCIENTISTS FOUND A WAY TO TURN A SPINACH LEAF INTO A WORKING HUMAN HEART MUSCLE RESEARCHERS SAY THEY CAME UP WITH THE IDEA OVER LUNCH THE GOAL WAS TO REPLICATE A HUMAN VASCULAR SYSTEM USING A LEAF'S NETWORK OF VEINS.
FIRST, THE LEAVES WERE STRIPPED OF THEIR CELLS USING DETERGENT, TURNING THEM TRANSLUCENT. THEN, THE SPINACH VEINS WERE SEEDED WITH HUMAN HEART CELLS.
AFTER A FEW DAYS, THE LEAVES' MUSCLE CELLS BEGAN TO BEAT. YOU CAN SEE INJECTED RED DYE COURSING THROUGH THE SPINACH VEINS.
SCIENTISTS HOPE THEIR RESEARCH COULD SOME DAY HELP TREAT HEART ATTACK PATIENTS.
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