(D-124) Plant Decellularization: The At-Home Learning Module

Introduction:: Tissue engineering (TE) is a rapidly growing field that entails the combination of scaffolds, cells, and active biological molecules to create functional tissues [1]. Topics in this exciting field can be a great recruiting tool for recruiting students into Biomedical Engineering due to the approachability and relatedness of topics. However, doing work in TE requires expensive equipment and supplies and is a highly skilled based field. In order to expose high school students to TE, they will have to travel to universities to work in research labs which can be a barrier to rural and low-income students. In this work, we propose an adapted TE learning module which can be performed easily and safety at home to overcome this barrier. The module is based on previous work where researchers created tissue engineering scaffolds out of plants such as spinach leaves because it has similar vasculature to that of humans [2], and it can help facilitate the diffusion of nutrients in complex human tissue [2]. We adapted the protocol to use daily-use items, like laundry detergent, that are accessible to most people and can be done at home. Exposing young adults to the world of tissue engineering in this manner is beneficial because it is familiar, making science feel more applicable, accessible, and less daunting. This will get more young adults excited about pursuing a career in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).


Materials and Methods:: Using masking tape and a marker, label each glass container with one of the following labels: “50% Biokleen solution *insert experimental start date*”, “50% 7^th generation solution *insert experimental start date*”, “Water *insert experimental start date*”. One spinach leaf was placed into each labeled glass container with water. A 1:1 ratio solution was made with Biokleen laundry detergent and water and 7^th Generation laundry detergent with water. Spinach was incubated in solutions for 34 days. Pictures were take with a cell phone every day. Solutions were replaced every 7 days.


Results, Conclusions, and Discussions:: The Biokleen and 7^th Generation laundry detergents both were strong enough to decellularize the spinach leaves. While it did take multiple weeks to decellularize, and even then, it did not fully decellularize them, there is plenty of evidence that shows the leaves lost their cellular components. For example, there is visually an extreme difference between the spinach leaves before soaking in the solutions compared to multiple days and weeks of sitting in the solutions. The grading of how well the spinach leaves were decellularized depended on the color and strength of the leaf. The leaf needed to have as little green color left in it as possible, while retaining its structural integrity. The 7^th Generation leaves are noticeably weaker than the Biokleen leaves when being picked up by tweezers. At the 34-day mark, the leaves in the 7^th Generation are very weak and became ripped when attempting to move them. For that reason, Biokleen is the better agent for performing the decellularization process. The Biokleen leaves remain strong throughout the entire process and decellularized the leaves well.

Our experiments showed that there is great promise for this protocol to be adapted to an at-home learning module and can be performed at home safely. With this experiment, students will learn about how to conduct an experiment, how to analyze their results, and how to draw conclusions. Expanding the accessibility to tissue engineering in young people will drastically benefit the field and encourage new findings. While this experiment is simple, it can spur the interest of students of all ages, genders, races, and socio-economic classes. This accessible experiment will hopefully encourage students to pursue careers in tissue engineering, biomedical engineering, or STEM in general.


Acknowledgements (Optional): :

References (Optional): : [1] “Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine,” National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering. https://www.nibib.nih.gov/science-education/science-topics/tissue-engineering-and-regenerative-medicine

[2] J. R. Gershlak et al., “Crossing kingdoms: Using decellularized plants as perfusable tissue engineering scaffolds,” Biomaterials, vol. 125, pp. 13–22, May 2017, doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2017.02.011.