The gel is designed by yogurt and helps heal the body from the inside

Imagine a material made of yogurt to heal damaged tissue.

That is the future Columbia University engineers are working with a new injectable hydrogel that uses extracellular vesicles (EVs) from dairy products to stimulate tissue repair. New materials mimic living tissues and enhance the body’s natural healing process, opening the way for safer and easier access to regenerative treatments.

Milk vesicles as a nanocarrier for nature

Extracellular vesicles are tiny particles released by cells that shuttle biological information between cells, including proteins and genetic material. They are increasingly being explored by drug delivery and regenerative therapies, but sourcing them has long been a challenge.

“The project was originally about the fundamental question of how to build EV-based hydrogels,” Columbia Engineering Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, published today in matter. “Yogurt electric cars provide us with a practical tool, but they prove to be more than just models.”

Correa and graduate student Artemis Margaronis found that electric vehicles from milk not only carry biological information, but also help build the physical structure of the gel. Electric vehicles crosslink with polymers, allowing gel injection and bioactivity to be free of synthetic additives.

Gels that mimic and heal living tissues

By turning dairy by-products into scaffolding and therapeutic agents, the team created a hydrogel that directly bonds to surrounding tissue. In mice, the material stimulated the growth of new blood vessels within a week, a key indicator of successful tissue regeneration. Importantly, the gel also triggers an immune environment rich in anti-inflammatory cell types, which may help explain its therapeutic effects.

• The gel is fully injectable and can be delivered locally
• Yogurt-derived electric vehicles act as both structural and biologically active signals
• In mice, gel promotes angiogenesis and tissue repair without side effects
• Immune response tends toward anti-inflammatory cells

Beyond Yogurt: Modular Platform

The researchers did not stop yogurt. They also tested electric vehicles from mammalian and bacterial cells, demonstrating the modularity of the platform. This flexibility can make it easier to adjust the gel from wound healing to specific clinical needs of organ regeneration.

Margaronis, a graduate of the National Science Foundation, noted that “the ability to design a material that closely mimics the natural environment of the human body while speeding up the healing process and opening up a new world for the possibility of regenerative medicine.”

Global cooperation, local impact

This study brings together expertise from Columbia University and the University of Padua, Italy. Padova scientists, including Elisa Cimetta and graduate student Caterina Piunti, contributed knowledge on agricultural EV procurement to complement the bioengineering approach of the Colombian team. Kam Leong of Columbia Engineering also co-led the project, and the group is now studying how the observed modes of immunomodulation in mice guide future tissue repair strategies.

Early results suggest that dairy-based electric vehicles are more than just a convenient model system, they may represent a viable, low-cost source of real-world regenerative medicine.

“Moments like this remind me of why the research field in biomedical engineering research is always on the cusp of exciting storm,” he said. Margronis said.

Journal Reference

Magazine: matter
Article title: Extracellular vesicles as dynamic crosslinking agents for bioactive injection of hydrogels
Conflict of interest: Columbia University has filed a technical patent application based on this work

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