Your task is to locate and find artificial, manmade material to be used as impla
ID: 60873 • Letter: Y
Question
Your task is to locate and find artificial, manmade material to be used as implantable prostheses or artificial organs. You would like to come up with nontoxic, never rejected material for cartilage replacement or repair. You heard of two possible synthetic polymers. One is made from Saccharomyces cerevisiae outer sugar layer; the other is a polymer of ethylene, or some high molecular weight hydrocarbon. Which one of the two polymers would you choose to test? Explain your answer and give reasons for choosing it over the one you have just rejected.
Explanation / Answer
I would like to choose the polymer of ethylene, or some high molecular weight hydrocarbon for cartilage replacement or repair. This is because it cannot be rejected by the patient’s immune system, so cannot generate autoantibodies. The polymer of ethylene like ethylene oxide allows the growth of chondrocytes and cartilage at the damaged site.
On the other hand, if we use outer sugar layer of made from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the patient’s immune system might recognize it as a foreign material or an antigen. This could result elicitation of immune system against the antigens and results production of antibodies to neutralize sugar material.
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