microfibers!
I'm cheating and I'm updating my journal while I should be working. I just can't read any more articles on nerves. I'm not kidding, this is going to be like a 12 week research paper...and a few hours of hands on research. haha I just realized no one probably knows what I'm talking about!!!
Anyway, I am here in Houghton for the rest of the summer (with the exception of the few days I'm coming home to see the pop concert and Wicked) doing research on nerves. As I'm sure everyone knows, (but not really - i didnt know) after a spinal cord injury nerves don't regenerate. What happens is the formation of what is called a glial scar. It is so dense that the existing nerves can't grow through it. And that's pretty much how paralysis can happen. So what we are doing is trying to develop a bridge or a scaffold that can be implanted in the spinal cord after injury and is suitable for nerve growth. now my project is to work on the scaffold part of it. Since nerve cells are really small (about 10 micrometer in diameter) they need a really small place to attach themselves to to grow, hence the microfibers. We make microfibers by a process called electrospinning by using a polymer (Poly-L-lactic acid) and a solvent (chloroform) and putting them though a very small needle that has an electric charge and then having another piece of metal with the opposite electric charge (we use paperclips). The charged particles attach themselves to the paperclip in a very long and very skinny string of fiber.
I dont want to bore you with anymore details, but this is pretty much what I'm doing for the summer. I'm bored out of my mind. My brain can't handle anymore random facts. So that's my life. I'm in the UP living by myself doing 3 hours or school and 6 hours of research everyday. If you have any questions, or would like to learn more, give me a comment or give me a call. I'm lonely. :(
Anyway, I am here in Houghton for the rest of the summer (with the exception of the few days I'm coming home to see the pop concert and Wicked) doing research on nerves. As I'm sure everyone knows, (but not really - i didnt know) after a spinal cord injury nerves don't regenerate. What happens is the formation of what is called a glial scar. It is so dense that the existing nerves can't grow through it. And that's pretty much how paralysis can happen. So what we are doing is trying to develop a bridge or a scaffold that can be implanted in the spinal cord after injury and is suitable for nerve growth. now my project is to work on the scaffold part of it. Since nerve cells are really small (about 10 micrometer in diameter) they need a really small place to attach themselves to to grow, hence the microfibers. We make microfibers by a process called electrospinning by using a polymer (Poly-L-lactic acid) and a solvent (chloroform) and putting them though a very small needle that has an electric charge and then having another piece of metal with the opposite electric charge (we use paperclips). The charged particles attach themselves to the paperclip in a very long and very skinny string of fiber.
I dont want to bore you with anymore details, but this is pretty much what I'm doing for the summer. I'm bored out of my mind. My brain can't handle anymore random facts. So that's my life. I'm in the UP living by myself doing 3 hours or school and 6 hours of research everyday. If you have any questions, or would like to learn more, give me a comment or give me a call. I'm lonely. :(