Comments on: Bio-Barrier Peptides TRANSFORM!

Bio-Barrier Peptides TRANSFORM!

riotgrrl69 — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 07:13:12 -0800

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.

By: delmoi

delmoi — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 07:24:41 -0800

Halts bleeding and repairs nerve tissue? Wow.

By: randomination

randomination — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 07:30:00 -0800

Wait, so grey goo is good now?

By: Mach5

Mach5 — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 07:30:14 -0800

This is way better than stain-resisitant pants.

By: loquacious

loquacious — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 07:31:14 -0800

Hey, I'm wearing nanopants as we speak.

By: kbanas

kbanas — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 07:33:44 -0800

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.

By: srboisvert

srboisvert — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 07:44:17 -0800

Hey, I'm wearing nanopants as we speak. That's funnier than you realize to folk in the UK.

By: riotgrrl69

riotgrrl69 — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 07:47:57 -0800

I'm wearing my nan's pants.

By: brain_drain

brain_drain — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 07:59:36 -0800

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!

By: KirkJobSluder

KirkJobSluder — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 07:59:56 -0800

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?

By: thirteenkiller

thirteenkiller — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 08:01:09 -0800

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

By: mkb

mkb — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 08:01:24 -0800

brain_drain: That's what I think of whenever I see someone getting an IV, especially morphine for some reason.

By: kcds

kcds — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 08:12:30 -0800

Hey, I'm wearing nanopants as we speak. FTFY

By: kcds

kcds — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 08:16:04 -0800

BTW, riotgrrl69, props on the wording of the FPP - well-played!

By: KirkJobSluder

KirkJobSluder — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 08:23:26 -0800

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".

By: gsteff

gsteff — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 08:24:08 -0800

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.

By: gsteff

gsteff — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 08:24:51 -0800

And I totally don't get the post wording reference

By: sergeant sandwich

sergeant sandwich — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 08:27:18 -0800

This is way better than stain-resisitant pants. stain-resistant? i give you stain-destroying! self-cleaning cotton!

By: thirteenkiller

thirteenkiller — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 08:30:52 -0800

gsteff: (youtube)

By: riotgrrl69

riotgrrl69 — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 08:31:33 -0800

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!

By: jeffburdges

jeffburdges — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 08:37:18 -0800

nanopants is a winner.

By: mr_roboto

mr_roboto — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 09:23:53 -0800

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.

By: furtive

furtive — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 09:58:43 -0800

As a Canuck who watches Jeopardy, I can appreciate the wording of this post.

By: quin

quin — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 10:08:46 -0800

I love it when scientists discover something new and valuable but have absolutely no idea why it works the way it does.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 10:27:37 -0800

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.

By: caution live frogs

caution live frogs — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 10:33:47 -0800

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.

By: Goofyy

Goofyy — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 10:46:29 -0800

I want to own a piece of the company that gets the marketing rights to this stuff.

By: lumpenprole

lumpenprole — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 10:52:31 -0800

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.

By: jmhodges

jmhodges — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 11:08:11 -0800

Okay, now we might be living in the future. I can do without the personal jetpack.

By: DesbaratsDays

DesbaratsDays — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 12:08:41 -0800

Just don't apply any near your heart. Ice-nine, here we come...

By: Artw

Artw — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 12:54:54 -0800

You know those New Scientist articles that people complain about? This is a lot like one of them.

By: delmoi

delmoi — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 13:03:59 -0800

The implication for hemophiliacs is fantastic.

By: flibbertigibbet

flibbertigibbet — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 14:34:15 -0800

I'm stunned and amazed. Outstanding work. ~~And I will apply this directly to my forehead.~~

By: adipocere

adipocere — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 16:43:54 -0800

By: lekvar

lekvar — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 17:00:54 -0800

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?

By: basicchannel

basicchannel — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 17:29:29 -0800

Wonderful post.

By: Malor

Malor — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 18:46:08 -0800

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...."

By: salad spork

salad spork — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 21:18:43 -0800

"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.

By: adipocere

adipocere — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 20:43:00 -0800

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.

By: lekvar

lekvar — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 12:16:07 -0800

The "nano" prefix means that the chemicals are man-made, preferably with a specific goal in mind. Think of nanotechnology as "designer" chemicals.