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Triple Helical Structure of Synthetic Collagen
This molecular animation (foreground) depicts the triple helical structure of synthetic collagen fibrils. The fibrils entangle by the millions to form collagen-like structures, which can be viewed with a scanning electron microscope (background).
Scientists at Rice University unveiled a new method for making synthetic collagen, which will be a significant advance for cosmetic and reconstructive medicine. The new material, which forms from a liquid in as little as an hour, has many of the properties of natural collagen and may prove useful as a scaffold for regenerating new tissues and organs from stem cells.
This research was supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation. To learn more about this research, see the Rice news story Rice unveils new method to grow synthetic collagen. (Date of Image: September 2011)
Credit: Jeffrey Hartgerink, Rice University
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