Recently published work on extracting synthetic
fibres from hydrogel by a team of researchers at the University of
Cambridge was the topic of this Journal Club. We discussed how appropriate a
comparison to spider silk was for this work. The hydrogel fibres from Cambridge
do not seem to match spider silk in strength. Could these fibres be used for
textiles and would this reduce problems with plastic fibres in water?
We also discussed the possible positive and negative
implementations of artificial wombs. Are there any developmental effects on a foetus
grown in an artificial womb? Would this technology be available for everyone
regardless of income and geographical location?
The personal genome project UK has made the fully sequenced
genomes of a first test group available this year. While this is very valuable
for researchers, we wondered how it affects the lives of the participants.
This Journal Club took place on Thursday, 15th September. Number of attendees: 10. Anthony brought homemade
peppermint crisp tarte.
The next Journal Club meets on the 5th October.
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