Gene Activating Glasses
激活基因的玻璃

Thirty years ago it was discovered that bioactive glasses bond to bone. This unique material has been used clinically for more than 15 years with many thousands of successful cases. Recent research has shown that bioactive response appears to be under genetic control. Class A bioactive glasses that are osteoproductive enhance osteogenesis through a direct control over genes that regulate cell cycle induction and progression. Cells that are not capable of forming new bone are eliminated from the cell population, a characteristic that is missing when osteoblasts are exposed to bioinert or Class B bioactive materials. The biological consequence of genetic control of the cell cycle of osteoblast progenitor cells is the rapid proliferation and differentiation of osteoblasts. The result is rapid regeneration of bone. Understanding the genetic basis for bioactive glasses provides an important opportunity for glass research. It should now be feasible to design a new generation of gene-activating glasses tailored for specific patients and disease states. The new generation of gene activating glasses can also be fabricated into bioactive resorbable scaffolds for tissue engineering of bone constructs for patients with large bone defects. If we can activate genes by use of glasses it is certainly possible that we may one day be able to use glasses to control genes.