Since porphyrins are taken up by blood vessels, some researchers reckon that they might be useful in treating atherosclerosis an inflammatory process that thickens and damages the vessel wall.

ECONOMIST: Medicinal light-swords

They came up with a promising candidate, tweaked it so it would be absorbed in the blood as a pill and then performed the key experiment testing it in mice to see if it would shrink tumors.

WSJ: New Medical Strides Against Prostate Cancer

Topping up the supply of healing fluid might be done by mimicking another biological system the network of blood capillaries that supplies living tissues with the stuff they need to thrive.

ECONOMIST: Monitor