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Anna-Lena Lundqvist/Chalmers University of Technology

Electronic textiles offer revolutionary new opportunities in various fields, in particular healthcare. But to be sustainable, they need to be made of renewable materials. A research team led by Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, now presents a thread made of conductive cellulose, which offers fascinating and practical possibilities for electronic textiles.

"Miniature, wearable, electronic gadgets are ever more common in our daily lives. But currently, they are often dependent on rare, or in some cases toxic, materials. They are also leading to a gradual build-up of great mountains of electronic waste. There is a real need for organic, renewable materials for use in electronic textiles," says Sozan Darabi, doctoral student at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Chalmers University of Technology and the Wallenberg Wood Science Center, and lead author of the scientific article which was recently published in ASC Applied Materials & Interfaces.

Together with Anja Lund, researcher in the same group, Sozan Darabi has been working with electrically conductive fibers for electronic textiles for several years. The focus was previously on silk, but now the discoveries have been taken further through the use of cellulose.

The results now presented by the researchers show how cellulose thread offers huge potential as a material for electronic textiles and can be used in many different ways.

Sewing the electrically conductive cellulose threads into a fabric using a standard household sewing machine, the researchers have now succeeded in producing a thermoelectric textile that produces a small amount of electricity when it is heated on one side-for example, by a person's body heat. At a temperature difference of 37 degrees Celsius, the textile can generate around 0.2 microwatts of electricity.

"This cellulose thread could lead to garments with built-in electronic, smart functions, made from non-toxic, renewable and natural materials," says Darabi.

Anna-Lena Lundqvist/Chalmers University of Technology

The production process for the cellulose thread has been developed by co-authors from Aalto University in Finland. In a subsequent process, the Chalmers researchers made the thread conductive through dyeing it with an electrically conductive polymeric material. The researchers' measurements show that the dyeing process gives the cellulose thread a record-high conductivity-which can be increased even further through the addition of silver nanowires. In tests, the conductivity was maintained after several washes.

Electronic textiles could improve our lives in several ways. One important area is healthcare, where functions such as regulating, monitoring, and measuring various health metrics could be hugely beneficial.

In the wider textile industry, where conversion to sustainable raw materials is a vital ongoing question, natural materials and fibers have become an increasingly common choice to replace synthetics. Electrically conductive cellulose threads could have a significant role to play here too, the researchers say.

"Cellulose is a fantastic material that can be sustainably extracted and recycled, and we will see it used more and more in the future. And when products are made of uniform material, or as few materials as possible, the recycling process becomes much easier and more effective. This is another perspective from which cellulose thread is very promising for the development of e-textiles," says Christian Müller, research leader for the study and a professor at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Chalmers University of Technology.

This work of the research team from Chalmers is performed within the national research center Wallenberg Wood Science Center, in cooperation with colleagues in Sweden, Finland, and South Korea.

Developing expertise in conductive fibers

Both Sozan Darabi and Christian Müller believe the research has resulted in much more than just the latest scientific publication. Sozan Darabi has developed from a student into a foremost expert in electrically conductive fiber materials, something Müller views as very rewarding, and a great strength for their research team.

Anna-Lena Lundqvist/Chalmers University of Technology

Through the national Swedish research center Wallenberg Wood Science Center, a group from Stockholm's Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) has also been involved in the research and publication of the study. The KTH researchers focus on the electrochemical aspects of the fibers. Together with this group from KTH, the Chalmers research team is now planning ways to take the ideas to the next level.

The cellulose thread

The electrically conductive yarn is produced in a "layer-on-layer" coating process with an ink based on the biocompatible polymer "polyelectrolyte complex poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT: PSS)." The e-textile thread developed by the researchers measures a record-high conductivity for cellulose thread in relation to volume of 36 S/cm-, which can be increased to 181 S/cm by adding silver nanowires. The thread coated with PEDOT: PSS can handle at least five machine washes without losing its conductivity. By integrating the cellulose yarn into an electrochemical transistor, the researchers have also been able to demonstrate its electrochemical function.

More about: textiles from nature and fashion industry interest

Throughout human history, textiles have been made from natural fiber and cellulose. But since the middle of the 20th century, synthetic fibers have become more common in our clothing, particularly in the fashion industry. With the greater focus and awareness now on sustainable alternatives, interest in natural fibers and textiles is returning and growing. Large Swedish chains such as H&M and Lindex have set high goals for increasing the proportion of garments produced from more sustainable materials.

The cellulose fiber that the researchers have used is of the Ioncell® type, developed by the Finnish group, led by professor and co-author Herbert Sixta.

- This press release was originally published on the Chalmers University of Technology website. It has been edited for style

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Big Potential for Electronic Textiles Made with Cellulose Thread

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Anna-Lena Lundqvist/Chalmers University of Technology Electronic textiles offer revolutionary new opportunities in various fields, in particular healthcare. But to be sustainable, they need to be made of renewable materials. A research team led by Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, now presents a thread made of conductive cellulose, which offers fascinating and practical possibilities for electronic textiles.

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The era of conscious luxury is here - Times of India

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The ethical valuation of luxury brands is the ticket to go for in the post-pandemic world to keep it upscaled. When you go through the annual fashion

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What if we could replace a patient's damaged blood vessels with brand new ones produced in a laboratory? This is the challenge set by Inserm researcher Nicolas L'Heureux, who is working on the human extracellular matrix - the structural support of human tissues that is found around practically all of the body's cells.

In a study published in Acta Biomaterialia, L'Heureux and his colleagues at the Tissue Bioengineering unit (Inserm/Université de Bordeaux) describe how they have cultivated human cells in the laboratory to obtain extracellular matrix deposits high in collagen - a structural protein that constitutes the mechanical scaffold of the human extracellular matrix. "We have obtained thin but highly robust extracellular matrix sheets that can be used as a construction material to replace blood vessels", L'Heureux explains.

The researchers then cut these sheets to form yarn - a bit like that used to make fabric for clothing. "The resulting yarn can be woven, knitted or braided into various forms. Our main objective is to use this yarn to make assemblies which can replace the damaged blood vessels", adds L'Heureux.

Made entirely from biological material, these blood vessels would also have the advantage of being well-tolerated by all patients. Given that collagen does not vary from individual to individual, it is not expected that the body will consider these vessels as foreign bodies that need to be rejected.

The researchers would now like to refine their techniques used to produce these "human textiles" before moving on to animal testing, in order to validate this last hypothesis. If these are conclusive, this could lead to clinical trials.

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Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.

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As the leading cause of mortality worldwide, cardiovascular diseases claim over 17 million lives each year, according to World Health Organization estimates. To open up new research avenues into this serious public health problem, Inserm researcher Nicolas L'Heureux and his team at the Tissue Bioengineering unit (Inserm/Université de Bordeaux) are developing ''human textiles'' from collagen in order to repair damaged blood vessels.

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Desimond Viray is a Californian in his early '30s. He works in IT support for Jelly Belly Candy Company and lives with his wife and four children. Ten years ago, he was diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer, chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML).

Each year, nearly 9000 new cases of CML arise in the U.S. While Viray - and many other patients with blood diseases - have several treatment options, the best chance of a cure is usually through either a stem cell or bone marrow transplant. In fact, over 12,000 patients each year are in need of transplants like these to cure life-threatening ailments like the various forms of leukemia and lymphoma.

For years, Viray has been trying to obtain this potentially life-saving treatment. His biggest obstacle? He's Filipino American.

The Ancestry Obstacle for a Donor Match

In the U.S., racial minorities are much less likely to find a suitable blood stem cell donor than White Americans (Figure 1). Patients are more likely to find a stem cell match from donors of similar ethnicity, and much fewer non-White Americans have signed up as possible donors in The National Marrow Donor Program's, or NMDP's, Be The Match registry (Figure 2).

Viray and his wife have been spreading his story on social media to raise awareness of this disparity. Last year, his story caught the eye of representatives of the Asian American Donor Program (AADP), who now provide a more elevated platform for his message. AADP, which works in partnership with NMDP, aims to mitigate the very obstacle that Viray now faces. The subset was founded in 1989, just a few years after NMDP was established in 1986. At the time, the registry only had around 120 potential Asian/Pacific Islander donors. Several Asian leukemia patients consequently went without transplant, eventually dying from their cancers. One of them was only 9 months old.

"AADP started with the effort of helping Asian communities," explains Shanna Singh, the Senior Community Engagement Representative for AADP. Since then, the program's scope has broadened. "Although we focus on Asian donors, if we get an African American patient, for example, who wants to campaign or get help from us, we work with African American communities for that," she says. AADP now registers around 8000 potential donors each year. In 2018, 55 of those people donated. Although most of the cases are related to leukemia or lymphoma, Singh states there are over 100 other blood diseases that could be cured with a stem cell or bone marrow transplant.

Still, Viray has not found a suitable match since his diagnosis a decade ago. Instead, he has been undergoing chemotherapy - in the form of pills he takes daily.

The medication that leukemia patients take without a transplant must be strong enough to kill cancerous white blood cells yet mild enough to not wipe out the healthy ones, which are necessary to maintain a functioning immune system. This balanced approach often leaves residual cancer cells lingering in the patient's marrow, which can become drug resistant as the cancer mutates.

The years of cancer medication has taken a toll on Viray. So far, he has been on four different medications: Gleevec, Sprycel, Bosiluf, and, most recently, Tasigna.

"Every time I take new medication, I get worried about what the possible side effects would be. Usually, I have a hard time tolerating those side effects," Viray says. The most common side effects he has faced are headaches and fatigue.

A year ago, though, he experienced a rare but jarringly dangerous side effect of Sprycel. Viray's heart started failing. His daughter found him unconscious at home one day, and he was admitted to the hospital soon after.

"I could've had a heart attack at any moment," he says. "It pretty much almost took my life."

Cleaning the Immune System's Slate and Starting Anew

A more assured approach to rid the body of blood cancer is to increase the strength of chemotherapy, killing the blood stem cells indiscriminately and entirely. This tactic of complete annihilation better ensures complete cancer remission. But by killing all of the healthy cells, too, it would also fatally cripple the immune system, i.e. white blood cells.

That's where the transplant comes in. A donor's stem cells are injected into the patient usually a few months after the mass destruction caused by the heightened chemotherapy. Because the blood stem cells can split and grow into healthy white blood cells, the donor's cells effectively set the foundation for a new, healthy immune system.

People usually donate their blood stem cells that have leaked from the bone marrow into the blood stream. In some cases - such as when the patient's condition is particularly unstable -, a stem cell transplant may not be sufficient. Instead, they might need a bone marrow transplant. According to Singh, marrow extract from the donor's hip contains a sample of the donor's mature immune system rather than just the infant stages that stem cells would provide.

Ethnicity, an Essential Element for Blood Stem Cells

The transplant's goal to grow a new immune system is why ethnicity matters. The immune system, even when crippled, is on the constant hunt for foreign invaders such as bacteria. Your immune system checks whether a cell it encounters is yours - and thus safe - by examining the specific proteins that festoon the cell's outer surface. In the context of stem cell and bone marrow transplants, if too many of these surface proteins look unfamiliar to the patient's immune system, the donor's cells are destroyed.

The particular proteins that are displayed on someone's blood cells are determined by that person's genetic makeup. Those proteins are referred to as human leukocyte antigen (HLA) markers. For leukemia patients like Viray, this means that in order to trick the immune system into accepting a donor's stem cells, the donor must have HLA markers very similar to theirs (Figure 3).

Like all genes, we inherit these markers from our parents. If someone has a similar ancestral background to you, their HLA markers are more likely to be close enough that your immune system will treat their stem cells as if they were yours.

For a successful transplant, it's essential that the HLA markers match as closely as possible. So while the AADP broadly caters to 'Asian Americans,' the donor and patient's race must match much more closely than that to ensure a high chance of a successful transplant. "It's really important to break it down as specifically as you can in order to find the best match. It's not always that you're going to match with someone in your ethnic background," Singh says, but "chances are that you are."

Viray's best bet for a donor is, therefore, another person with Filipino ancestry. Yet, only 0.5% of the national registry is comprised of Filipino Americans (Figure 2). Someone with a mixed racial background faces even more troubling odds. And while family members are an obvious candidate for any patient seeking a donor, Be the Match reports that only 30% of patients find a suitable donor among their relatives.

Today, Viray is still looking for a potential donor with help from AADP. Though his relatively stable condition is keeping him hopeful, "it's very important that I start now," he says. "There are a lot of contingencies even after finding a suitable donor that 100% matches. It's not guaranteed. That's why it's important that we do this search for a donor even if it's going to take 10-20 years. We're trying to get more people involved and not just for me. For other patients, too."
To register as a donor with AADP, just text the code 'AADP' to the number 61474. You can still register even if you are not a citizen as long as you plan to stay in the U.S. for next 3-5 years. Jordan Wilkerson is a Ph.D. student in the Chemistry and Chemical Biology program at Harvard University. Nicholas Lue is a third-year PhD student in the Chemical Biology program at Harvard University. You can find him on Twitter as @nicklue8.
Cover image: by "Red Blood cells" SciTechTrend is licensed under CC PDM 1.0

For More Information:

To learn more about the stem cell donation process, check out this first-hand account.

To learn more about stem cell transplants, see this general review by the National Cancer Institute

For more information about joining the Be The Match Registry, see their Frequently Asked Questions

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Racial Minorities Face a Dearth of Stem Cell Donors - Science in the News

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Desimond Viray is a Californian in his early '30s. He works in IT support for Jelly Belly Candy Company and lives with his wife and four children. Ten years ago, he was diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer, chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Each year, nearly 9000 new cases of CML arise in the U.S.

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To read the full report, visit our annual reviews and reports web page
Last year saw the highest ever number of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people register as stem cell donors, according to a new report which shines a light on the inequalities which remain for BAME patients in need of donors. The annual review from Anthony Nolan and NHS Blood and Transplant, From Strength to Strength, reveals that BAME people made up 23% (42,326) of new registered adults on the UK donor register, which rose by 185,000 in 2016 to almost 1.3 million.

While the number of new donors from BAME backgrounds is an important step towards diversification, more work is needed to address imbalances in the ethnic makeup of the donor pool. Despite this year's increase, BAME donors still make up just 15% of the register (the remainder are 78% northern European, 7% unknown/prefer not to say); the shortage means that BAME patients have only a 20.5% chance of finding the best possible donor match, compared to 69% for northern Europeans.

2016 also saw a record number of young men register as stem cell donors (35%; 64,226), but thousands more are still needed.
UK donor registers are urging more BAME people and young men to join up
Currently, men make up less than 40% of the register (39.6%; 510,804), but provide almost 80% (79.6%) of all donations. Male donors are generally preferred as their bigger body mass means they can produce more stem cells, and they are more likely to be available than women, who are unable to donate while pregnant or for 12 months after giving birth. Recently-published research from the Anthony Nolan Research Institute showed that patients receiving transplants from donors aged under 30 had better transplant outcomes, further highlighting the need for younger donors.

As a result, the UK donor registers are urging more BAME people and young men to join up and ensure that all patients in need of a transplant can find a potentially lifesaving match.

The report also reveals that, in 2016, 1,131 UK patients received a stem cell transplant using cells from an unrelated donor or cord blood unit. Of these, 411 donations came from UK donors; 604 from overseas donors; 41 from a UK cord blood unit; and 75 from an imported cord blood unit.

Cord blood stem cells, which are collected after a woman gives birth, are an important commodity in stem cell transplantation as they can be given to patients who lack a match on the adult donor register, such as those with rare ethnic heritage. More than 3,500 units of umbilical cord blood were banked for stem cell transplantation in the UK in 2016, bringing the total number of banked cord blood units up to 20,000; as a result, 41 lifesaving transplants using cord blood were facilitated in 2016, up from 32 the previous year. Currently, ten UK maternity wards have cord blood collection facilities.
"We will continue to work hard to recruit more minority ethnic and young male donors"
The combined UK register is known as the Anthony Nolan and NHS Stem Cell Registry, and is made up of donors recruited by NHS Blood and Transplant, the Welsh Blood Service, DKMS UK and Anthony Nolan. When someone in the UK is in need of a transplant, Anthony Nolan carries out a search of the combined UK registers, including the cord blood bank, for a match. If no match is available in the UK, Anthony Nolan then conducts a search of the worldwide donor register.

Henny Braund, Chief Executive of Anthony Nolan, said: "From Strength to Strength shines a light on the inequalities which remain for black, Asian and minority ethnic patients in need of donors. We will continue to work hard to recruit more minority ethnic and young male donors so we can achieve our goal of finding the best possible match for everyone in need of a transplant.

"The report also clearly shows that we made encouraging progress in diversifying the register through targeted activity to recruit more young men and people from diverse backgrounds as donors. It's pleasing to see a significant increase in cord blood units banked, as cord blood can bridge the gap between the lack of minority ethnic donors, and patients in need."

Guy Parkes, Head of Stem Cell Donation & Transplantation at NHS Blood and Transplant, said: "We are delighted with the strengthening collaboration that makes up the Anthony Nolan and NHS Stem Cell Registry. Our joint strategy of recruiting the most sought after donors and banking cords with high cell doses, and then using the latest typing technology to aid better matching to patients, has proved to be extremely successful. As a result we continue to see a year on year increase in the number of UK patients that we are able to help with lifesaving stem cell donations."
"It's important that we continue to expand the UK register and continue to recruit BAME donors"
Cath O'Brien, Director of the Welsh Blood Service, said: "We're pleased to see an increase in BAME donors registering to give bone marrow and stem cells. We strive to ensure that our panel of donors are committed and that we are able to provide a quick response to the needs of UK transplant centres.

"It's important that we continue to expand the UK register and continue to recruit BAME donors, to ensure that all patients in need of a transplant can find a potentially lifesaving match."

Stephan Schumacher, CEO of DKMS UK said: "Since launching in the UK in 2013, DKMS continues to grow from strength to strength. We've marked our 300,000th blood stem cell donor milestone and continue to be dedicated to the fight against blood cancer.

"Our aim is to find a matching donor for every patient. Last year alone, 401 donors from the DKMS family helped to give UK patients a second chance at life. Through our activity in the UK, we hope to increase the support for blood cancer patients - both in the UK and around the world. Our aim is to encourage more donors to register, especially those of different ethnic minorities."

Vit Karunanithy, 21, is a student from London and a volunteer at KCL Marrow, one of more than 50 student groups which raise awareness of the stem cell register and blood cancer at universities around the UK. He says: "It may look on the face of it that people from BAME communities don't care, but it's not that simple. I don't think there is as much awareness of stem cell donation - I joined the register after seeing an appeal for Vithiya Alphons on Facebook last year. It may sound slightly self-centred but I joined since she was from the Tamil community like me, and before this I hadn't really thought about it.

"I feel I should have signed up earlier, however now I'm glad I signed up as I've had the opportunity to be part of KCL Marrow and join in the wonderful work Marrow do. Marrow is so important because it has a significant effect on people around the world. Not many people would have even heard of stem cell donation without the help of Marrow."
To read the full report, visit our annual reviews and reports web page

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New report shows stem cell donor registry is growing

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State of the Registry report shines light on inequalities facing ethnic minority patients with blood cancer To read the full report, visit our annual reviews and reports web page Last year saw the highest ever number of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people register as stem cell donors, acc

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We live in an age of intensifying cyber conflict which is taking the form of a generalized cyber war. Cyber attacks involve a diverse ecology of individuals, criminal groups, international organizations and companies, nation-states and governments all operating with their own agendas. High profile attacks have been carried out against power grids, nuclear enrichment facilities, and presidential campaigns.