Self-Assembling Transportation Network in a Hydrogel
Blood circulating through vessels spanning from head to toe of our body in order to exchange gases and supply. The network continuously changes adapting to the varying environments with growing body, unwanted amputation, and so on. One of the mechanisms starts triggered by oxygen deficiency, followed by cascade reactions of breakup and creation of vessels. Thus the bifurcating network spreads throughout the body. Constructing such a dynamic system is challenging. Not only exciting as environment-adaptable systems from the viewpoint of engineering, but it may give a clue to understand how nature and life work, or evolve.Our objective is to create an environmental-adaptable hydrogel system having tube networks, in which liquid efficiently flows. We, still in a childish stage, are puzzling over how to realize reversible tubes responding to the inner flows and outer situations.