Newfound strength in regenerative medicine

(CAMBRIDGE, Mass. Researchers in the field of mechanobiology are revealing new insights into how the body's physical forces and mechanics impact development, physiological health, and the prevention and treatment of disease. A new study from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University suggests that mechanically-driven therapies that promote skeletal muscle regeneration through direct physical stimulation could one day replace or enhance drug and cell-based regenerative treatments. The finding was published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . "Chemistry tends to dominate the way we think about medicine, but it has become clear that physical and mechanical factors play very critical roles in regulating biology," said David Mooney , the Robert P. Pinkas Family Professor of Bioengineering at SEAS and Wyss Institute Core Faculty member, senior author on the new study. "The results of our new study demonstrate how direct physical and mechanical intervention can impact biological processes and can potentially be exploited to improve clinical outcomes. " The multi-disciplinary team was led by Mooney and also included soft roboticist Conor Walsh , who is a Associate Professor of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering at SEAS, founder of the Harvard Biodesign Lab, and Wyss Core Faculty member; and biomechanical engineer Georg Duda, who is a Wyss Associate Core Faculty member, vice-director of the Berlin-Brandenburg Center for Regenerative Therapies, and director of the Julius Wolff Institute for Biomechanics and Musculoskeletal Regeneration at Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin.