On Saturday, October 21, 2017, CEL hosted high school students from the Bridge to Enter Advanced Mathematics (BEAM) program as they learned about topics "Inside Engineering." With diabetes as a disease model, students were introduced to the potential for using hydrogel beads and capsules for therapeutic approaches to manage the disease. Students participated in a hands on experiment making solid alginate beads that can be used for cell or drug delivery.
Alginate is a biopolymer hydrogel that is able to crosslink internally and externally to form alginate beads and capsules. After this formation, alginate can be used to encapsulate cells which protects them from immune cells and release of cell products.