Smartphones now “order” bodies to cure diabetes
In a fusion of biology and technology, Chinese scientists have used a smartphone to control blood sugar levels in mice with diabetes. The idea, detailed in Science Translational Medicine, could pave the way for a “new era” in medicine.
The first step was to turn normal cells into living factories. They were genetically developed to create drugs that control blood sugar levels such as insulin, only in response to light.
The technology is called optogenetics and these cells would kick into gear when exposed to specific wavelengths of red light. Then comes the tech part – some wirelessly powered LEDs and a smartphone app to control them.
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After researchers at East China Normal University in Shanghai implanted the system into mice, they were simply able to control diabetes with the tap of a touchscreen.
“How soon should we expect to see people on the street wearing fashionable LED wristbands that irradiate implanted cells engineered to produce genetically encoded drugs under the control of a smartphone? Not just yet, but the work provides us with an exciting glimpse into the future of smart cell-based therapeutics.” said Prof Mark Gomelsky, a molecular biologist from the University of Wyoming, cited by BBC.
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