Sedona bio-company shapes synthetic blood vessels

December 3, 2009

By hammersmith

A Sedona biotech company has been awarded National Science Foundation funding to develop synthetic blood vessels for human applications.
Protein Genomics Inc. will receive $149,242 in NSF Small Business Innovation Research Phase 1 funds to develop new blood vessels using a synthesized human protein as a guide for forming human cells from a donor or a subject’s own into tissues and structures, said Burt Ensley, company founder and project director.
The result will be blood vessels that avoid the risks and problems posed by using materials harvested from cadavers, said Ensley, a University of Arizona adjunct faculty and BIO5 Institute member.