Bio-Barrier Peptides TRANSFORM!

October 10, 2006 7:13 AM

Nanotech. Apply directly to the bleeding. Nanotech. Apply directly to the bleeding. Nanotech. Apply directly to the bleeding. [RealMedia] Nanotech is not yet available at retailers nationwide.
posted by riotgrrl69 (39 comments total)

Halts bleeding and repairs nerve tissue? Wow.
posted by delmoi at 7:24 AM on October 10, 2006

Wait, so grey goo is good now?
posted by randomination at 7:30 AM on October 10, 2006

This is way better than stain-resisitant pants.
posted by Mach5 at 7:30 AM on October 10, 2006

Hey, I'm wearing nanopants as we speak.
posted by loquacious at 7:31 AM on October 10, 2006

For some reason, I read this initially as "Nanotech! Apple directly to the bleeding!"

And I was like, "The iPod Nano stops bleeding now? Who knew."

It's... it.. sigh.. it's early.
posted by kbanas at 7:33 AM on October 10, 2006

Hey, I'm wearing nanopants as we speak.


That's funnier than you realize to folk in the UK.
posted by srboisvert at 7:44 AM on October 10, 2006

I'm wearing my nan's pants.
posted by riotgrrl69 at 7:47 AM on October 10, 2006

I'm reminded of the scene in the Matrix where Neo takes the red pill, touches a mirror, and a silvery liquid spreads up his arm and starts to consume his whole body. Not that I fear technology or anything.

Clever post!
posted by brain_drain at 7:59 AM on October 10, 2006

Is it a good thing, a bad thing, or just a thing that the term "nanotech" has apparently expanded in such a way that it would include something like good old Elmer's glue?
posted by KirkJobSluder at 7:59 AM on October 10, 2006

This isn't quite like Elmer's glue, if that's what you're suggesting.
posted by thirteenkiller at 8:01 AM on October 10, 2006

brain_drain: That's what I think of whenever I see someone getting an IV, especially morphine for some reason.
posted by mkb at 8:01 AM on October 10, 2006

Hey, I'm wearing nanopants as we speak.

FTFY
posted by kcds at 8:12 AM on October 10, 2006

BTW, riotgrrl69, props on the wording of the FPP - well-played!
posted by kcds at 8:16 AM on October 10, 2006

thirteenkiller: This isn't quite like Elmer's glue, if that's what you're suggesting.

Not quite, but they are similar in that both glue and this stuf involve small molecules that can bond to form larger structures under certain conditions. For that matter, cheesemongers have been working nanotech since the neolithic.

It just seems to me that any time the term "nanometer" is dropped into a press release that it becomes interpreted as a "nanotechnology" even if we are talking about something as mundane as paint surfaces rather than Drexel's "engines of creation/destruction".
posted by KirkJobSluder at 8:23 AM on October 10, 2006

I'm not sure how much the original rat brain experiment cost the MIT researchers, but I'll bet that it was less than the $2.6 billion new Virginia-class submarine DoD paid for this year. Guess which one will save more American lives.
posted by gsteff at 8:24 AM on October 10, 2006 [1 favorite]

And I totally don't get the post wording reference
posted by gsteff at 8:24 AM on October 10, 2006

This is way better than stain-resisitant pants.

stain-resistant? i give you stain-destroying! self-cleaning cotton!
posted by sergeant sandwich at 8:27 AM on October 10, 2006

gsteff: (youtube)
posted by thirteenkiller at 8:30 AM on October 10, 2006

It just seems to me that any time the term "nanometer" is dropped into a press release that it becomes interpreted as a "nanotechnology" even if we are talking about something as mundane as paint surfaces

This research is published in "Nanomedicine". Nanomedicine is the medical application of nanotechnology. I suggest you take it up with them!
posted by riotgrrl69 at 8:31 AM on October 10, 2006

nanopants is a winner.
posted by jeffburdges at 8:37 AM on October 10, 2006

KirkJobSluder writes "Is it a good thing, a bad thing, or just a thing that the term 'nanotech' has apparently expanded in such a way that it would include something like good old Elmer's glue?"

The definition of "nanotechnology" has definitely expanded, yeah. But it's not completely without definition: there are a few general principles and techniques that have found a home under the nanotech label. The reason that this work is discussed as nanotechnology is because it's based on "self-assembly"; a process by which molecules spontaneously form complex, well-ordered structures. Self-assembly is a general approach to "bottom up" nanotech, in which nanostructures spontaneously form based on interactions of their constitutive molecules. This is as opposed to "top down" nanotech, where technologies like lithography are used to draw nanostructures onto a substrate.

Ellis-Behnke's peptides self-assembly into fibers that have wound-healing properties. I don't know how exciting it is from a nanofabrication point of view, but his medical results are incredibly impressive.
posted by mr_roboto at 9:23 AM on October 10, 2006

As a Canuck who watches Jeopardy, I can appreciate the wording of this post.
posted by furtive at 9:58 AM on October 10, 2006

I love it when scientists discover something new and valuable but have absolutely no idea why it works the way it does.
posted by quin at 10:08 AM on October 10, 2006

From the first link:

In tests on skin, liver, lung, blood vessels and a variety of other tissue, Ellis-Behnke and his colleagues were able to use the liquid to halt bleeds in less than 15 seconds. The mechanism for this ability remains something of a mystery.

‘It isn’t clotting that we’re seeing. We tested for all of the things you find in all blood clots; fibrin, thrombin and platelets and none of them were there,’ said Ellis-Behnke. ‘Either this is acting as some kind of molecular band aid or we are stopping bleeding via a completely new direction that we have never seen before.’

Once the liquid touches an internal organ, it forms a gel; the amino acids assemble into fibres and stop the bleed. The degradable peptide then breaks down into non-toxic products as the tissue heals.

These products can even be used by cells to rebuild damaged tissue, according to the researchers. During the study, the liquid was used successfully internally and externally, before breaking down to be incorporated into the healed tissue or excreted in the urine.

Out. Standing.
posted by darkstar at 10:27 AM on October 10, 2006

Just think about how much this could affect surgery patients - most of the time that something is accidentally left in a patient after surgery, it is one of the gauze pads that is used to stem blood flow. No gauze means fewer post-surgical complications and infections. This is pretty cool stuff.
posted by caution live frogs at 10:33 AM on October 10, 2006

I want to own a piece of the company that gets the marketing rights to this stuff.
posted by Goofyy at 10:46 AM on October 10, 2006

Yeah, incorrect applications of nano-buzzwords aside, this is amazing. The amount of people who have serious complications in emergency surgery due to uncontrolled bleeding are huge.

If this stops any significant fraction of that, then this is giant.
posted by lumpenprole at 10:52 AM on October 10, 2006

Okay, now we might be living in the future. I can do without the personal jetpack.
posted by jmhodges at 11:08 AM on October 10, 2006

Just don't apply any near your heart.

Ice-nine, here we come...
posted by DesbaratsDays at 12:08 PM on October 10, 2006

You know those New Scientist articles that people complain about? This is a lot like one of them.
posted by Artw at 12:54 PM on October 10, 2006

The implication for hemophiliacs is fantastic.
posted by delmoi at 1:03 PM on October 10, 2006

I'm stunned and amazed. Outstanding work.

And I will apply this directly to my forehead.
posted by flibbertigibbet at 2:34 PM on October 10, 2006

"Nano-" now gets prefixed to anything where the particles are just a few score Angstoms in size, if there is some significant feature of the same scale, etc. I'd be a bit happier if they only used it for something at least as complex as the six simple machines, rather than just chemicals.
posted by adipocere at 4:43 PM on October 10, 2006

I'm a little concerned that no-one fully understands the mechanism at work. Really, isn't this how Science Gone Mad always begins in the movies?
posted by lekvar at 5:00 PM on October 10, 2006

Wonderful post.
posted by basicchannel at 5:29 PM on October 10, 2006

lekvar, as Asimov said, and I will paraphrase because I don't have the quote handy: nearly all scientific breakthroughs are not accompanied by shouts of "Eureka!". Rather, they happen when a scientist says, "hmm, that's funny...."
posted by Malor at 6:46 PM on October 10, 2006

"Nano-" now gets prefixed to anything where the particles are just a few score Angstoms in size, if there is some significant feature of the same scale, etc. I'd be a bit happier if they only used it for something at least as complex as the six simple machines, rather than just chemicals.

What you fail to realize is that nanotechnology IS just chemicals... and that molecules can function as complex machinery. When we've figured out how peptide sequence translates into protein function, we can then turn around and engineer a sequence to perform a specific task. I haven't read the primary article yet, but I'd be willing to bet you that's what these guys were doing... it just had an interesting side-effect.
posted by salad spork at 9:18 PM on October 10, 2006

No, I did not fail to realize it. My point is precisely that - if it's "just chemicals" then everything is nano. Which makes having the prefix a little useless and stupid.
posted by adipocere at 8:43 PM on October 11, 2006

The "nano" prefix means that the chemicals are man-made, preferably with a specific goal in mind. Think of nanotechnology as "designer" chemicals.
posted by lekvar at 12:16 PM on October 12, 2006