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Cell Metabolism Artificially Enhanced
NewScientist is reporting that Swiss researchers have shown that a cell's metabolism can be increased without altering the genetic makeup. Small plastic packages of enzymes have been successfully inserted into cells, increasing metabolism. "Meier and colleagues coated their polymer vesicles in a chemical that encouraged human white blood cells called macrophages to engulf them. The small capsules contained enzymes, just like natural organelles. The enzymes chosen produced fluorescent chemicals, signaling they were working without problems inside their new host."
now people can be lazy AND fit... mark one against global warming
So? It will raise peoples metabolism? For what purpose? To waste even more resources on producing food? Waste more land area, water, energy, artificial fertilizers, greenhouse gases, kill more oceans? Yeah, great! And in the end that will probably mean less food for the poor and higher food prices aswell.
And what say the fat people won't eat even more when they use this? And you don't get the benefits of cardiovascular training or weight lifting either.
Simply useless, not to say really stupid!
What are needed aren't more stimulants or excuses, eat for performance not for pleasure and lift your fucking ass!
(Exception being people who really have some form of medical condition which make their metabolism or body not work as intended, but those people are probably very rare, if there even are any.)
I see this as very interesting commentary on the human persona. We consume energy which is of extreme importance and complain of its excessive cost whilst we abuse it. We then expend more precious energy to figure out ways to use more energy in an inefficient manner to trick our bodies into no longer storing the energy for later dire straights.
The fundamental basis of this idea is flawed. I personally don't get it.
However, it is certainly marketable and will cause someone to be filthy rich if they can really force humans to expend more energy without doing anything that actually requires the energy (such as exercise).
But I digress, all that aside, the pure discovery is interesting.
The real trick is to get the artificial organelles to copy themselves when the host cell splits, in the same way that mitochondria or plastids function.
Thank you, researchers. The world really needed a metabolism-enhancing enzyme that turns you green.
How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
This is /. so I suppose reading the article isn't a given. There are other uses than just for increasing the metabolism. Other uses include targeting cancerous cells specifically, giving lactose intolerant people enzymes in their stomachs, and making your skin do photosynthesis so you don't even have to eat. They're all theories around the new "NanoReactor" they created for delivering their payloads. I'm assuming that increasing the metabolism was the easiest test to perform in a dish.
lol, HIV is such a waste of time. Once they cure Cardiovascular disease, then I will be impressed. Plus, creating florescent cells has been around for many many years.
Seems like great science work. However, I'm a bit worried about the potential applications. If/when this process becomes cheap, I can just see this becoming permanent make-up.
Cynical Idealist
Could have at least, for a change, put some more effort into it. Something small, like citing more of the dialog in question goes a long way.
"And I for one welcome our new florescent, metabolically enhanced overlords. I'd like to remind them that as a trusted slashdot personality, I can be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground sugar caves."
(Cells use sugar for energy,... right?)
GAAH! MY PRINTER IS ON FIRE!!! PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUT!
The original paper did not increase the metabolism of the macrophage. What the original paper did was encage an enzyme, trypsin, in a "nanometer-sized polymer vesicle". This vesicle was coated with a protein that induce macrophages to engulf the vesicle (which is what macrophages do - they phagocytose). The authors then incubated macrophages which contained the vesicles with a dye (BZiPAR) that fluoresces (emits a wavelength of light - in this case green) when treated with trypsin (trypsin cuts of parts of the BZiPAR that suppress fluorescence).
We already know how to non-genetically introduce proteins to cells, for example using liposomes or the tat-peptide approach. What makes this work interesting is that the polymer vesicle is more stable than liposomes and, unlike the other methods, the vesicles don't release their content into the cell. Instead, the cell's components have to enter into the polymer vesicle.
This is an interesting technical development. It is not, however, everything that Mr. Osborne makes it out to be.
Cats are supposed to regulate their food intake well, atleast that's what the food bags says, thought mine is fat. I've tested to not give her that much food but her complaints are annoying so she just tend to always have food in her bowl.
;D, vegan as I am ;D (Cattle meat lets out lots of greenhouse gases during the whole production line/live aswell. Chicken are much better, but I think it's very cruel with chicken production. Eat your tofu instead ;D, or even better beans and lentils.)
:/
Anyway I think one of the biggest problem are that people don't see and eat food for functionality, but rather for pleasure. They don't eat to get the nutrition and energy they need for the day, they eat because they like it, it tastes good and makes them feel good.
But to take coffee and some snack because you have a break at work, that cola you have beside your desk just because you like it, serve and eat food for hours when the family meet, eat up everything in your lunchbox because it happened to be there, take a treat because you wanted it, eat because you are bored, and so on suck. Fluid foods are even worse because it's so easy to consume vast amounts of them and they are normally just consumed for taste alone, to add juice and soda to your meal just raise the energy consumtion even further but it doesn't feel like you are eating something.
Eat because you need it and nothing else. Find something else to make you happy and feel good for doing. Do some workouts, have sex, give someone a hug, watch a good movie, do your hobbies, whatever suits you.
Also haven't the population of planet earth raised from like 1 billion to over 6 billion in 100 years? Even if there are food for everyone or possible to make it while using even more space there will indeed be a problem if and when the population keeps expanding at this rate, 36 billion people 2100? We already have a fish fleet 5 times to large and all the fish people eat now will be exterminated by 2040 if I remember correctly. Thinks like our european eels have droped in numbers a lot and they live long, I think they got sexually mature late and the amount of them reaching europe have accordingly to wikipedia droped 90, maybe even 98% since the 70s! How long will it take for all those fishes to come back to the old volumes? Is it even likely? Will we really stop fish them? I doubt it... Especially since the fleet are just so big and many people will refused to stop and people want food.
Which btw gives me the right to say that omnivore humans suck
Anyway, considering how fast the population grow, how fat people already are, how much food are probably wasted thought refining into more precious food and animal products, do we really need something which let people eat even more?!!?! We are already affecting all other life on the planet way to much, please don't let us spread and invade it even more. It would be so much better if we where only 500 million or something, that's a lot of humans anyway, just compare it to the amounts of all other primates
We need to die, fast! Maybe we can let out some chemicals which makes most of us infertile, to bad it will probably affect other animals aswell.
Something like this has been recognized to occur in certain cancers, through Oncosomes. In such cases, the cancerous cells bud off vesicles which fuse with healthy cells, containing oncoproteins that induce a cancer-like phenotype in the target cell, despite no change in the healthy cell's genotype.
Anyway, I find this interesting. While restricted to situations where you could physically make the delivery, it raises the possibility of obtaining (temporarily) effects similar to those of gene-therapy without the gene. By producing your target protein ex vivo you eliminate an entire class of problems revolving around how to introduce and express foreign DNA.
I mean, on one hand it's interesting, but on the other hand, won't a good healthy helping of amphetamines do the same thing?
Great! In addition to artificially creating cancer (see asbestos, nanotubes, smoking, nuclear fission, tanning booths, cell phones, etc.) we can now create artificial cancer.
Cancer by the way is when a cell begins growing and dividing uncontrollably. Such cells have a higher metabolism.
I love it when people know what they're talking about :-)
Now that I love!
You can't mine sugar, it's grown. Douche bag.
Help fight spam
You just keep telling yourself that while you're down in the cave, mining sugar.
BTW I was JK about the douche bag thing
The Swiss Researchers also wish to extend their thanks to the two main sponsors of the research, Major League Baseball and the US Olympic Team.
I stole this Sig
Increasing the metabolism is actually very easy. There are natural uncoupling proteins in the respiratory chain, lowering its efficiency and increasing the amount of input required for the same energy output. The same effect can be achieved by the use of other substances, including alcohol
It does however, lead to increased sweating, which is probably bad enough as it is with many basement dwellers...
Hey come on now. I've seen this one already. Then they can't eat fast enough to keep up with their super metabolism and their nerves kinda take a beating too and then when they're in the middle of a goa'uld ship, their body can't take it anymore and they risk failing the mission. Come on, who can't see that coming? Sci fi shows are here to warn us, people! Like the Jetsons telling us we're all gonna have to live in the sky if the sea level rises and we'll all have dishwashers and vending machines!
Google's Super Secret Search Algorithm: SELECT @search_results FROM internet WHERE @search_results = 'good'
otherwise who knows what the hell will happen
"The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long. And you have burned so very very brightly, Roy."
To do something right, you often have to roll up your sleeves and get busy.
HA! I always love it when the first post is rated -1 Redundant. It's like a paradox.
the Umbrella Corporation.
Serious sounds like a great idea. What could possibly go wrong?
Why turn bird eggs? The theory of Magnetrition says, this need to be moved is a requirement throughout the life of all warm blooded animals. The movement is seen happening/taking place as a result of a survival instinct, diminishable with age, until now. Magnetrition points out movement of the warm blooded cell is required to keep a magnetically migrating organelle moving and thus performing its rule in the microscopic biological structure. Plants need photosynthesis. CHLOROPLASTS ARE PHOTOTACTIC. Are the mitochondria magnetotactic? Do warm-blooded animals need "Magnetosynthesis"?
Alan, Search + Share ~ Magnetrition, http://www.freewebs.com/alanejackson/index.htm