Researchers from Columbia University have created a new type of injectable hydrogel that could greatly improve how we treat injuries and help the body heal.
The hydrogel uses tiny particles called extracellular vesicles, or EVs, taken from milk—specifically yogurt—to help repair tissue in a natural and effective way.
EVs are special particles released by cells. They carry many important messages between cells, like proteins and genetic material. These natural messengers are difficult to copy with man-made materials. That’s why scientists are now trying to use EVs in new ways to help the body heal itself.
The team, led by Professor Santiago Correa and graduate researcher Artemis Margaronis from Columbia Engineering, found a way to use EVs not just as healing ingredients, but also as building blocks in the structure of a hydrogel.
Hydrogels are soft, jelly-like materials that can be injected into the body to help with healing. In this case, the milk-based EVs help form the gel and also give it special healing abilities.
Their work, published in the journal *Matter*, shows that EVs from yogurt can be used to form a strong but flexible hydrogel that mimics real human tissue. This hydrogel can be injected directly into injured areas, where it encourages cells to grow and repair the damage. The best part? It doesn’t need any added chemicals to work.
“This project started with a simple question—how can we build hydrogels using EVs?” said Professor Correa. “Yogurt EVs were a surprisingly effective solution, and they turned out to have their own healing powers.”
The research team worked with scientists from the University of Padova in Italy, including Dr. Elisa Cimetta and graduate student Caterina Piunti.
The Padova team brought experience in collecting EVs from agricultural sources, while Correa’s lab contributed expertise in nanomaterials and polymers. Together, they created a powerful new material by combining knowledge from different fields.
The hydrogel platform was also tested with EVs from other sources, such as mammalian cells and bacteria. These tests showed that the hydrogel system is flexible and can work with many different kinds of EVs. This makes it useful for a wide range of medical uses, including wound healing and tissue repair.
In early animal tests, the yogurt EV hydrogel showed no signs of causing harm. Instead, it helped form new blood vessels in just one week, a key part of the healing process. The hydrogel also seemed to create an environment that encourages anti-inflammatory immune cells, which can help reduce pain and speed up recovery.
Because it’s injectable, the hydrogel can be placed exactly where it’s needed in the body. It also slowly releases healing signals from the EVs over time, which supports long-term tissue regeneration.
“This material does more than just fill in a wound—it helps the body heal in the way it was meant to,” said Margaronis. “This kind of breakthrough is what makes biomedical research so exciting.”
The researchers believe that this discovery could lead to new treatments in regenerative medicine, especially for injuries that are hard to heal with current methods. They plan to continue studying how the hydrogel interacts with the immune system and how it can be adapted for use in humans.
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The study is published in Matter.
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