February
14
/ 2014
Scientists have abandoned high-tech devices for a 2,000-year-old Chinese woodblock in order to find an improved way of squeezing tiny, individual living cells out into orderly patterns for lab experiments. The new technique based on the ancient printing tools could significantly improve the survival rates of living cells and allow scientists to effectively print a variety of cells in a variety of shapes on just about any surface. The researchers, led by Houston Methodist Research Institute scientists Dr Lidong Qin, developed the new technique after finding that current technologies for setting down a layer of cells are inadequate. "Inkjet-based cell printing leaves many of the cells damaged or dead. We wanted to see if we could invent a tool that
