Using Photosynthetic Microbes to Oxygenate Ischemic Tissue

Ischemic injuries, in which insufficient oxygen is delivered to tissues, can occur in numerous ways, but heart attacks are among the most common, evident, and dangerous. A sizable branch of the research community works on ways to efficiently and quickly provide oxygen to the impacted tissues so as to reduce the long-term damage and speed recovery. At the end of this road lie permanent enhancements such as respirocyte nanomachinery that will provide hours of supplemental oxygen for all tissues, but for now researchers are still working on the first potential advances in emergency oxygen supplementation, such as the example noted here. The use of photosynthetic microorganisms to provide much needed oxygen to damaged heart tissue could be a feasible approach to treating heart attacks. Recent research describes the injection of the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus into ischemic heart muscles of live rats, where, in response to light exposure, the microbes produced oxygen and improved organ function. Photosynthetic organisms capture energy from sunlight and use it to convert carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates for growth. The process creates a surplus of oxygen, which the organisms simply expel into the atmosphere, much to the delight of aerobic organisms such as humans. "One day I was thinking: what is the fundamental problem with a heart attack? It's the absence of oxygen being delivered to the heart muscle. And, what in nature makes oxygen for us every si...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs