A team of scientists from MIT and the University of Hong Kong has developed a gel from peptides that is able to stop bleeding in animals in a matter of seconds. The gel then breaks down into amino acids which go to work on tissue repair. These researchers have already used the gel to spur the regrowth of brain cells as well as partially restore sight in hamsters. This new work in stopping bleeding may point the way to control bleeding during surgeries, which would in turn reduce the time it takes to complete surgery by up to 50 percent. The researchers applied the gel to wounds in the brain, liver, skin and more. MIT researcher and lead author Rutledge Ellis-Behnke published their findings in the online edition of Nanomedicine
- read the report on the gel from Xinhuanet