New dissolving plastic sutures made from E. coli
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Normally E. coli is the last thing you want threaded through your colon, but now that super-strong, slow-dissolving sutures are made out of the bacteria, you should ask for it by name. Made from genetically engineered organisms, the resultant polyester holds your abdominal surgical strikes together more reliably, reducing the number of repeat surgeries needed due to ruptures because the sutures melted early. It could also do a good job on ripped tendons and ligaments. The same group, Tepha, is working on a polymer scaffold which can be seeded with heart cells in order to replace faulty heart valves in one surgery instead of the multiples needed now. [GT]
