Harnessing the power of nature

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcare/article/the-holy-grail-of-heart-health-a-valve-that-grows-inside-you-pjxvrq33l

Avoid paywall: https://archive.is/aPuXP


I found this article in last weekend's Sunday Times fascinating. It's
about a breakthrough in creating a 'growing heart valve' i.e. a
replacement valve that grows with the body. A major issue with
children suffering congenital heart disease is that existing valves
have to be replaced every few years as their bodies grow. This
technique involves a temporary valve made of microscopic fibres which
acts as a scaffold that infuses with the body's cells. The scaffold
gradually dissolves leaving a self-grown living valve made of the
patient's own tissue.

This bit particularly caught my attention:

"To mimic nature, the fibres are of different widths and have specific
spaces between them which attract cells; this creates an environment
where they thrive. After settling into these spaces, cells grow and
trigger the development of the different cell types needed to make the
heart valve work.

A study of the device in sheep, published a year ago in the journal
Nature Communications Biology, revealed that within four weeks there
were more than 20 different types of cell - including nerve and fatty
tissue cells - functioning in the exact places they would be in a
natural heart valve."

A poster here seems to have trouble accepting how powerful and
versatile natural forces can be; this article seems to me just one
example of how powerful and versatile they actually can be.