“This is certainly a new opportunity to do this decellularisation approach with a fairly unique source.”Īdam Lever, the abattoir manager for Koorana Crocodile Farm, says that the farm has a “mutually beneficial” relationship with Dr. Strappe explained, “They are very innovative in looking at new ways to use waste products, which essentially for them is cartilage. The farm also works hard to achieve a zero waste policy.ĭr. Strappe moved from Charles Sturt University to CQ University’s Rockhampton campus, and soon ended up at the Koorana Crocodile Farm, which produces croc meat for the market in Australia and exports skins to fashion houses in Italy. Strappe said, “A crocodile has very big articulating joints so it needs a lot of cartilage to maintain that movement.”Ī year and a half ago, Dr. Strappe was inspired by a CSIRO study from over ten years ago, which ranked the levels of growth-promoting proteoglycan in the cartilage of various species…and crocodiles were at the top, with rib cage cartilage-rich in this protein.ĭr. We’ve seen cartilage tissue created before by 3D printing human stem cells, but it is still tricky to achieve. “We hope that might promote cartilage repair, which is a big challenge and becoming more so in elderly populations.”Ĭartilage from the throat area of young crocodiles were tested. Strappe said, “That gives us a soup or a glue that might promote our own adult stem cells, stem cells we take from fat tissue or bone marrow, to become cartilage. One day, this process could be used to successfully turn human stem cells into cartilage.ĭr. Strappe is developing a process that will extract growth factors from crocodile cartilage, as well as remove the proteins that set off a human immune response. Together with a small team of researchers at CQUniversity, Dr.
“What we’re looking for is a long-term repair to the cartilage so people can return to work and to sport much faster and they don’t have the long-term effects of inflamed joints.” But now, a microbiologist in central Queensland is using 3D printing, human stem cells, and crocodile cartilage to find a new way to treat arthritis and joint injuries.ĭr. Pardraig Strappe explained, “We’re looking at a new type of process. But just because it’s minimally invasive doesn’t mean that it’s not still painful, with a potentially long recovery time.
Padraig Strappe holds crocodile cartilage that may be used to treat joint damage in humans.Īrthroscopic surgery is a minimally invasive procedure, where the cartilage of a person’s damaged joint is examined and treated with an arthroscope – an endoscope inserted into the damaged joint through a small incision.
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