A team of U of T Engineering researchers, led by Professor Molly Shoichet (ChemE, BME, Donnelly), has designed a new way to grow cells in a laboratory that enables them to better emulate cancerous tumours. The platform — based on a type of material known as a hydrogel, a soft jelly-like substance — opens new ways to advance treatment options for cancer.
By investigating the natural molecules found in breast cancer tissue, Dr. Alexander Baker (ChemE, BME), a postdoctoral fellow, and Laura Bahlmann (BME PhD candidate) were able to design a more compositionally defined and reliable alternative to the standard material typically used by cell biologists called Matrigel®. They shared their findings in a recent paper published in Materials Today.