Thanks to Tyra and Marlene for opening the second season of Sciencebrew at Café Ariman!
First Tyra explained the limited supply of blood stem cells for transplantations which are vital after some cancer treatments, for example. One source are umbilical cords which would otherwise be discarded after birth. However, babies are small and umbilical cords even smaller, so it is very hard to get enough stem cells to treat adults with. Modern medical science has tools to guide cells towards expansion, but getting them into cord blood stem cells has proven difficult. Tyra is working on solving this problem using nanostraws! These are just as they sound like, microscopic straws which are allow researchers to gently introduce various molecular tools into hard-to-work-with cells. Hopefully, one day nanostraws will enable us to expand cord blood cells and from medical "waste" to a life-saving treatment.
Marlene talked about the role immune system plays in the abilities of salamanders to regenerate limbs. This ability has been studied extensively, but exactly how they do it and why they are some of the only land animals that can, is still poorly understood. Some hypothesize that land animals (including humans) have had to make a tradeoff between a strong and complex immune system and regeneration. On a related note - did you know that babies whose immune system is still developing can regenerate lost fingertips? Do NOT try this at home. Marlene's salamander lab is exploring to what extent the immune system helps or hinders salamander's extroardinary ability to regenerate in the hopes that their discoveries could one help people heal wounds or even lost tissue.
Join us next time on March 18th at 19h at Cafe Ariman for more fascinating research across Lund University!
