human collagen, now lab-made

Filed in archive News , Studies on February 16, 2006

Collagen is the most important structural protein in the body, reinforcing connective tissues, bones and teeth and forming long fibrous cables to strengthen tendons. It forms sheets of tissue that support the skin and every internal organ.

In medicine, animal collagen (mostly from cow) is used to rebuild destroyed tissues, most commonly in plastic surgery to augment the lips and cheeks of those in search of perpetual youth.

For at least 30 years, scientists have been making a way to synthesize human collagen. At last a team of scientists in Wisconsin-Madison headed by Ronald T. Raines (UW-Madison Professor of biochemistry, who with postdoctoral fellow Frank W. Kotch authored the study at the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences) reported the discovery of a method for making human collagen in the lab.

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This discovery is very important because it opens a door to producing a material that can have a broad use in medicine and replace the animal products that are presently being used.

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