UK researchers have successfully made microthreads from polymers containing living cells, using a technique called electrospinning. These biologically active threads could be formed into medical scaffolds, to deliver cells directly to tissue and promote healing.

Electrospinning works by passing a viscous liquid through a conducting needle to form a thread. In this case, the liquid carries polymer molecules and living cells. The difference in voltage between the charged conducting needle and an earthed collector below it creates an electric field that draws the liquid through the needle.

Suwan Jayasinghe at University College London, UK, who led the study, told Chemistry World that the technique could be used to make both random and specified scaffold arrangements of threads that would be biologically active. ‘The cells are not affected or damaged by the voltage,’ he said. ‘This means that we can make biological scaffolds from these threads that will hold living cells in place and allow them to interact with the surrounding organisms.’