Instant repairs to the human body has been a science-fiction dream for nanotech since the idea was first put forward. Researchers at MIT have taken the first step towards that amazing goal with a material that can stop bleeding in seconds.
The clear liquid acts almost like a "healing potion", instantly staunching blood flow and thereby stabilizing potentially fatally wounded patients. The material is a cunningly constructed peptide (a short polymer chain made of alpha-amino acids) consisting of a comb-like structure with a central spine (which hates water) and a large number of projecting teeth (which love water). On contact with the wet, salty kind of environment you get inside the human body these schizophrenic peptides instantly twist themselves into a bunched, compact ribbons. In a liquid of peptides these scrunched up chains overlap, thus instantly meshes to form a fibrous grid which covers the wound site and holds whatever's meant to inside inside.
Outside the body the fluid remains fresh for a long time, but because it's made of the same amino acids the body uses it can easily be broken down inside a wound - so you can just leave it in there. No removing stitches, no after-op care. This combination of easy storage with "apply and forget" ease-of-use makes it ideal for emergency responders and battlefield use where the priority is "Stop them leaking and do it really quickly". We can't be sure if this is the same stuff as in those big boxes with red crosses on them in Doom, but if it isn't it's something damn like it.
MIT have already spun out a company, Arch Therapeutics, to commercialize this technology. Which shouldn't be too hard as people generally don't like bleeding, unless they're goths. The first application, awaiting FDA approval, will be in the more controlled circumstances of surgery to prevent extraneous bleeding - allowing close scrutiny of the material at work and further testing. In the future we hope they'll be able to give out this as a "band aid in a bottle" and tell people "Rub that on anything with a hole in it".
by Luke McKinney, 2008
