full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Andrew Pelling: Could we treat spinal cord injuries with asparagus?

Unscramble the Blue Letters


So, could we use the agrasupas and its vascular bnlueds to rieapr a spinal cord? This is a really dumb idea. First of all, humans aren't plants. Our cells have not evolved to grow on palnt polymers, and plant tissues have no business being found in your spinal cord. And secondly, illdaey these types of scaffolds should disappear over time, lanievg behind natural, healthy tissue. But plant-based scaffolds don't do that, because we lack the enzymes to break them down. finulny enough, these properties were exactly why we were having so much success. Over the course of many experiments, we were able to demonstrate that the inertness of plant tissue is exactly why it's so biocompatible. In a way, the body almost doesn't even see it, but regenerating cells benefit from its shape and stability.

Open Cloze


So, could we use the _________ and its vascular _______ to ______ a spinal cord? This is a really dumb idea. First of all, humans aren't plants. Our cells have not evolved to grow on _____ polymers, and plant tissues have no business being found in your spinal cord. And secondly, _______ these types of scaffolds should disappear over time, _______ behind natural, healthy tissue. But plant-based scaffolds don't do that, because we lack the enzymes to break them down. _______ enough, these properties were exactly why we were having so much success. Over the course of many experiments, we were able to demonstrate that the inertness of plant tissue is exactly why it's so biocompatible. In a way, the body almost doesn't even see it, but regenerating cells benefit from its shape and stability.

Solution


  1. repair
  2. bundles
  3. ideally
  4. leaving
  5. funnily
  6. asparagus
  7. plant

Original Text


So, could we use the asparagus and its vascular bundles to repair a spinal cord? This is a really dumb idea. First of all, humans aren't plants. Our cells have not evolved to grow on plant polymers, and plant tissues have no business being found in your spinal cord. And secondly, ideally these types of scaffolds should disappear over time, leaving behind natural, healthy tissue. But plant-based scaffolds don't do that, because we lack the enzymes to break them down. Funnily enough, these properties were exactly why we were having so much success. Over the course of many experiments, we were able to demonstrate that the inertness of plant tissue is exactly why it's so biocompatible. In a way, the body almost doesn't even see it, but regenerating cells benefit from its shape and stability.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
spinal cord 5
plant tissues 3
vascular bundles 2


Important Words


  1. asparagus
  2. benefit
  3. biocompatible
  4. body
  5. break
  6. bundles
  7. business
  8. cells
  9. cord
  10. demonstrate
  11. disappear
  12. dumb
  13. enzymes
  14. evolved
  15. experiments
  16. funnily
  17. grow
  18. healthy
  19. humans
  20. idea
  21. ideally
  22. inertness
  23. lack
  24. leaving
  25. natural
  26. plant
  27. plants
  28. polymers
  29. properties
  30. regenerating
  31. repair
  32. scaffolds
  33. shape
  34. spinal
  35. stability
  36. success
  37. time
  38. tissue
  39. tissues
  40. types
  41. vascular