After being exposed to bioactive nanostructures developed in Samuel I. Stupp’s laboratory at Northwestern University, Mice recovered from the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and recovery of heart function after an infarction.

Stupp and his coworkers designed molecules with the capacity to self-assemble into nanofibers once injected into the body with a syringe. When the nanofibers form they can be immobilized in an area of tissue where it is necessary to activate some biological process, for example saving damaged cells or regenerating needed differentiated cells from stem cells.