A CENTRE that aims to diversify the Scottish textile industry into producing special materials which could be used to make artificial human organs is to be established.
The Scottish Centre for Biomedical Materials will be set up within the Scottish College of Textiles with a #540,000 research award from the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council.
It will carry out research into the development and innovation of biomedical materials, including textiles, which are used to replace damaged, diseased or missing human tissue.
Developments will include artificial organs, wound dressings, special bandages, and external body support systems.
Elsewhere, a laboratory will be set up by Glasgow University to identify genes contributing to common disorders like cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, and other disorders.
A #430,000 grant will enable it to install and run a #200,000 automated DNA sequencer and ancillary equipment, and train the appropriate staff.
It will be capable of carrying out a million genotype analyses over a three year period. About 5000 samples are already available and more will be taken in collaboration with the department of general practice and local GPs.
Professor Anna Dominiczak, who is heading the project, said: ''By identifying genes which contribute to various diseases we hope to be able to design simple screening tests to find people at particular risk of these diseases.
''They can then be targeted for primary prevention so that other factors like diet, lifestyle and environment which also play their part in particular diseases can be modified to minimise the risks of them developing.''
Strathclyde University, meanwhile, is to receive #500,000 to create a network of centres - in collaboration with Glasgow University, the Royal Infirmary, and the Western Infirmary - for exploring new methods of drug delivery in humans and animals.
Experts in computer engineering will collaborate with pharmacists, vets, and doctors to study different routes for delivering drugs in a range of animal species, human volunteers and patients, using leading-edge technology to determine how drugs are deposited around the body.
Dividends of defiance Page 9
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