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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

CRISPR-Cas9, PDGF-β Transcriptional Activation, Fibroblast Cell

College

Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology

Department

Mechanical Engineering

Abstract

Chronic wounds, particularly in the lower limb, represent a huge physical, financial, and social burden to 50 million people worldwide. In 2014, Americans paid an estimated $25 billion for simple wound care for patients. Despite these efforts, traditional methods of trying to heal wounds from the outside via surgical debridement, anti-inflammatory medications, moisture correction, etc. often fail to close wounds (Demidova-Rice et al., 2012). If wound closure does not occur, infection will cause localized tissue death and can lead to sepsis and death. Unfortunately, this leaves amputation as the only resort when wounds don’t close. If primary amputation occurs, the likelihood of a second amputation on the other limb is high, resulting in mortality rates as high as 69% five years after amputation. Thus,the key to solving this medical crisis is being able to get chronic wounds to heal in a timely manner.

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