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| Fibrin fibers that
comprise blood clots have extraordinary elasticity. (Xinhua
Photo) | BEIJING,
Aug.4 (Xinhuanet) -- The fibrin fibers that make up blood clots are so extremely
elastic that they can expand to more than four times their normal length before
they break, according to researchers at Wake Forest University and the
University of North Carolina.
The research was published in the August 3 issue of
the journal Science.
They found that these fibrin fibers, roughly 1,000
times smaller than a human hair, can stretch to nearly three times their length
and still return to their normal shape and expand to more than four times their
normal length before they break.
The fibrin fibres are the most stretchable known
fibres in nature, the study concluded in a finding that could help scientists
create more accurate blood clot models and provide new insights into wound
healing, heart attacks and strokes.
"It's an important finding," said Dr. Richard Becker,
a cardiologist and hematologist at Duke University Medical Center, "aside from
better clot-busting treatments, the work could lead to better ways to prevent
dangerous blood clots in the first place and, on the flip side, to help blood
clot better in people with hemophilia and other bleeding disorders."
Enditem
(Agencies)
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