New Medical Gel Helps Regrow Bones

Medi-gel is now an actual thing that exists.

Scientists over at the Rice University in Texas have managed to create the closest thing to medi-gel we’ll probably see in real life. The new medical gel kickstarts bone regeneration using a patient’s stem cells, but it also dictates where that growth occurs by forming a scaffold that degrades only when tissue takes its place.

As anyone who has ever worn a cast will tell you, setting bones to make sure they grow properly has historically been an arduous and delicate process. With the new gel, doctors effectively just have to fill an area with the gel and wait for nature to do the rest. It should make the process a whole lot easier – so don’t be surprised if you find traditional plaster casts going the way of the dinosaur in the near future.

The technique should initially be useful for repairing skull damage, but it’s likely to be handy for both less vital operations and cosmetic surgery, for example, plastic surgeons would be able to use the gel to reshape a patient’s cheekbones.

Certainly some pretty crazy stuff that is quickly bridging that gap between science-fiction and reality.

Source: Engadget