Scientists Turn Supermarket Seaweed Into Heart Tissue
Ben Sullivan
It started with a trip to a farmers market. Researchers from Oregon State University spotted packets of Pacific dulse, a reddish marine seaweed typically sold as a snack or salad ingredient, and wondered: could this ocean vegetable double as a scaffold for growing human heart cells?
The answer, published this week in the journal Biointerphases, is a resounding yes. After stripping away the seaweed’s own cells and leaving behind only its structural skeleton, the team successfully grew human...