Question: why use plants for bandages not a conventional one? thanks

Marcus Johns answered on 17 Jun 2014:

Hey Hetty,

Conventional bandages are generally made from cotton, which is a plant. However, a conventional bandage isn’t suitable for use inside the body. It won’t degrade well in the body and it doesn’t promote the growth of the cells that we’d want if repairing an organ rather than your skin.

Biodegradability is very important when designing materials to go into the body as the scaffold – rather than bandage – needs to disappear at the same rate as the cells grow in order to promote effective healing. If it’s too slow it will need to be removed and replaced, which we don’t want as we want to minimise the amount of surgery carried out. If it’s too fast the scaffold will disappear before the cells can grow there, leaving a hole.

There are synthetic plastic scaffolds that can do this but they’re generally based on acids, which can cause inflammation round the injury and can be expensive. By using certain chemicals from plants that are abundant I aim to create a product that will support the growth of the cells; will degrade in the body at an appropriate rate and produce chemicals that won’t cause inflammation, and is affordable for everyone – not just the rich.