Bio-Active Polymer Driven Cell Based Systems - Predicting Human Drug Toxicity

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We are all very familiar with polymers of one type or another, playing as they do a vital role in essentially all aspects of our lives, from fabrics to pens and plastic bags to car components polymers play a vital role in all aspects of our lives. Polymers also have a huge medicinal potential. This can range from the passive (e.g. blood bags and catheters) to the invasive with stents, dissolvable stitches and polymeric based drug release systems all playing a role in modern healthcare.We have identified and patented a polymer family that allow liver cells to grow with full function and for long periods of time. This is important because liver cells are notoriously difficult to maintain and grow, yet are vitally important in drug screening. Using our polymers we can therefore grow up liver cells and use then to assess drug toxicity and the potentially toxic metabolic products of liver breakdown.