Microbe Processors

gpmap writes "Smart microbes are closer to reality than you might think, as described in an interesting article on Boston Globe Online. Ron Weiss, a Princeton biochemist, has already programmed E. Coli bacteria cells that release a fluorescent protein when they're exposed to certain chemicals. Now that a team at Stanford University has found a computer-based way to make cells react to any known chemical, the idea of weapons-detecting microbes looks even more promising. That is just one of the more modest applications of a remarkable new engineering discipline -- the science of programming cells. Imagine thousands of preprogrammed cells coursing through your bloodstream, checking cholesterol levels and patrolling for cancer. Or an army of bacteria powerful enough to suck the unwanted contaminant out of a whole lake, but smart enough to turn themselves off when no longer needed."

Comments

I already have mine, thank you

[barakn]

Imagine thousands of preprogrammed cells coursing through your bloodstream, checking cholesterol levels and patrolling for cancer. I already have thousands of preprogrammed cells coursing through my bloodstream patrolling for cancer. They are known as T cells. My liver handles the cholesterol.