Forget Shots - New Implants Could Deliver Meds.......
If you’re
diabetic or have Pernicious anemia you have to manage injections, sometimes
daily. Now there’s hope for treating such chronic diseases via implants powered
by nothing more than light-triggered engineered cells.
The
implants could also monitor toxins in the body in real time, providing
long-term health data — either warning you to take your heart meds or even
administering the meds themselves.
The
technology, reported in the journal Nature Photonics,
consists of transparent polymer implants. Each implant has genetically modified
cells in it that activate in response to light. The cells can be programmed to
release chemicals.
Myunghwan
Choi and Seok Yun led a joint Harvard University and University of Toronto team
to build a set of implants made of hydrogel, a polymer material that is
compatible with tissue. Each hydrogel implant was 4 millimeters by 40
millimeters, and only a millimeter thick. The patches were loaded up with cells
engineered to respond to light.
Choi
and Yun demonstrated the implants in two ways. In one experiment they used them
to deliver insulin, and in another they were toxin detectors.
The
insulin system was used on diabetic mice. The scientists sent blue light
through an optical fiber to the implant, inducing the cells in the implant to
make a protein that stimulates insulin production.
For
the toxin detection, the engineered cells emitted green light in the presence
of heavy metals. By measuring the light levels from the implant, they
could see how much heavy metal was present.
There
is still work to be done before it gets to local clinics. First, the cells have
to be taken from the host — otherwise there is the risk of immune reactions.
Also, the transmission of light through the hydrogel has to be extended —
humans are bigger than mice. Third, it will take time to discover how porous
the hydrogels should be in order to best deliver the kinds of drugs
necessary.
If
that happens, one day our bodies could be networked as much as our devices.
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