Bad Cornea?

Consider replacing it with a sea cucumber. New Scientist reports::

Garrett Matthews, a biophysicist at the University of South Florida in Tampa, US, and his colleagues have come up with a design for artificial corneas that they say achieves this – using sea cucumbers.

Sea cucumbers are sausage-shaped echinoderms, most species of which live on the sea floor in a variety of marine environments around of the globe.

The team's artificial cornea is made from tiny collagen fibres
extracted from these sea cucumbers. When placed in a centrifuge, the
fibres self assemble into layers in which the fibres are aligned
vertically, a structure that is very similar to the tissue in mammalian
corneas. The result is a thin layer of material that is transparent and
biocompatible, as well as cheap and easy to make, says the team.


Newest 4
Newest 4 Comments

"When placed in a centrifuge, the
fibres self assemble into layers in which the fibres are aligned
vertically"

Duh! of course they do.... who else didn't know that?
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