Air Force researchers are developing technology using cellular reprogramming they say could "heal wounds more than five times faster than the human body."
Scientists are researching "ways to reprogram a person's own cells to heal wounds faster," according to a news release from the service. Indika Rajapakse, associate professor of computational medicine and bioinformatics and mathematics at the University of Michigan, is leading the research.
Cellular reprogramming is the process of using a human cell and rewriting its genome to transform into an entirely different type of cell. The method can change a skin cell, for example, to a neuron, or blood cell or muscle cell, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information and the National Institutes of Health. It can also reprogram cells to become more efficient or to repair or rejuvenate themselves. The process is accomplished using "transcription factor" proteins which are able to activate or deactivate certain genes within those cells which control operations such as growth, movement, replication and other activities.
By manipulating those transcription factors, Rajapakse found that wounds could heal more than five times fast than if left alone. Now, the Air Force wants to help him find how to apply that knowledge.
Rajapakse submitted a proposal to the Pentagon's research program to purchase a live cell imaging microscope, which can help gather data for an algorithm researchers say can mathematically identify when the best time is to intervene in an individual cell's cycle to heal wounds, according to the release.
The Department of Defense awarded Rajapakse a grant for research to improve on that algorithm.
"We have the resources to do this, and it is our obligation to take full advantage of them," he said.
The technology researchers are now working to develop could take the form of a "spray-on bandage" which would apply the transcription factors directly to wounds, converting any exposed deep muscle cells into skin cells aiming to heal the wound without resorting to skin graft procedures.
The Air Force saw an opportunity in Rajapakse's research to develop technology for "aeromedical environments" where the presence of unhealed wounds could increase a crew's "susceptibility to hypoxia and other altitude-related injuries," according to the release.
The Air Force Disruptive Technology Team, led by Col. Charles Bris-Bois, saw other uses for the technology, including burn healing, skin grafts and organ transplants.
The technology is far from ready to deploy, however. There is still much testing to be done, according to the release, particularly to find which transcription factors are needed to make the specific changes required to heal the wounds.
The research could lead to "innovative solutions for addressing our needs in the aeromedical operations and in future space environments," said Rajesh Naik, 711th Human Performance Wing chief scientist.
“Indika’s research is exactly the kind of breakthrough technology we’re looking for in Air Force Disruptive Technology,” Bris-Bois said, according to the release. “This shows the real promise of our efforts to bring warfighters and technologists together to imagine the possibilities of early scientific research.”
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Reach Abbie Bennett: abbie@connectingvets.com or @AbbieRBennett.
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