• Question: Who first came up with the idea of a polymer to treat diseases inside the body and what diseases are you hoping to treat with them?

    Asked by hyellop01 to Judith on 22 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Judith McCann

      Judith McCann answered on 22 Jun 2011:

      Hey, Great question and actually a brilliant story (bit gory in places though)!

      In the second world war the windshields of the planes where made of a polymer (basically perspex) but when they were shot with bullets shards of the polymer hit the pilots and got embeded in their skin (told you it was gory!) but when they healed up, any bits of polymer that were left in didnt react with the immune system-they weren’t rejected by the body.

      They started using polymers to make lots of things (from hip replacements to contact lenses) because they are so versatile-the properties can be altered to give different uses…

      My research project could be applied to any disease that affects the enzyme levels in the body. For example in diabetes, people can get chronic ulcers (wound that never heal) this is because there are enzymes present that are breaking down the skin at the same rate it heals.

      I would love it if my work is eventually applied to treating patients, even if its not a miracle cure, but can help heal people faster and with less side effects 😀

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