The US Air Force Research Laboratory, together with the University of Michigan, are exploring a technology based on cell reprogramming that would allow wounds to heal 5 times faster than normal.
Thus, American troops could obtain healing abilities “similar” to those of “Wolverine”, the Marvel Comics superhero associated with the X-Men, who can regenerate his cells when injured. The scientific body of the military branch shared how the investigation is progressing.
This technique basically reprograms the genome of a human cell, for example, a skin cell, to turn it into a different type of cell (muscle, blood, or any other type). Reprogramming is carried out thanks to proteins called transcription factors that ‘turn on and off’ various genes within cells to regulate the processes of division, growth, as well as cell organization and migration.
On a practical level, it is assumed that the transcription factors will be applied via a ‘bandage’ that is coated as a spray directly to the wounds so that the exposed muscle cells become superficial skin cells. This way the reconfigured cells cover the wound and it heals faster.
To precisely identify the transcription factors which cause cells to change types, the team of scientists developed an algorithm guided by data provided by a microscopic images of living cells, which determines the correct proteins and predicts the points in the cell cycle where these modifications can best bring about the desired transformation.
“It usually takes decades for basic math research to make it into models which can be applied to a technology, ”said Frederick Leve, one of the authors of the research.
If this technology is applied on a large scale, “it will revolutionize the Air Force in the coming years,” reads the official statement.
