A team of South Korean scientists has discovered a technology to rapidly make cell sheets from human tissue cells.
 
The team led by Yonsei University Professor Kim Eun-kyung said it successfully produced a cell sheet larger than one centimeter in diameter in just five minutes at a temperature of 37 degrees Celsius by utilizing a phenomenon in which polymers and collagens react to heat.
 
With the existing method, cells became unstable as the process required the temperature to be lowered to below 20 degrees Celsius. The process also took more than an hour, which made commercializing the method difficult.  
 
The team hopes that the new technology will lead to the development of tailored treatments that would be a perfect fit for damaged tissue.
 
The team’s achievement was published in the leading chemistry journal, Angewandte Chemie International Edition.