Slashdot Mirror
Biological 'Logic Circuit' Destroys Cancer Cells
intellitech writes "Researchers led by ETH professor Yaakov Benenson and MIT professor Ron Weiss have successfully incorporated diagnostic biological information processing in human cells. In a study recently published in Science (abstract), they describe a multi-gene synthetic 'logic circuit' whose task is to distinguish between cancer and healthy cells, and subsequently target cancer cells for destruction. This circuit works by sampling and integrating five intracellular, cancer-specific molecular factors and their concentration. The circuit makes a positive identification only when all factors are present in the cell, resulting in highly precise cancer detection. Researchers hope it can serve a basis for very specific anti-cancer treatments."
That is really cool.... it won't go terribly wrong, right?
If it does, you'll die. Which you were going to do anyway.
Who cares, so long as they can keep us alive long enough, in 80 years they'll have mastered devegetation!
Throughout human history, it has always been easier to kill someone with a new invention than to save someone. This may be the next generation of biological weapons.
I have wondered to myself a few times if it would be possible to reprogram an intracellular parasite to become a new "immortality" organelle.
Take for instance, the work with toxoplasma gondii. This is already an intracellular parasite, which has been fully sequenced and even fully reprogrammed in the lab.
we suspect that much of 'old age' is the genetic breakdown of chromosomes from cellular mitosis, which causes a limit to the number of times a healthy cell culture can divide, and further impact the functional health of tissues made from such aged cellular populations.
Incorporating a failsafe backup of the chromosomes of the host, detecting cancer factors, and selectively disabling some the tumor suppression genes in the host that restrict tissue regeneration would radically increase the lifespan of the host.
The idea I had in mind was for the endoparasite to contain a normal bacterial genome capsid, for the organism's own cellular activites, and for the cancer detection and apoptosis trigger of the host--- but also to contain a fully synthetic non-replicating copy of the host's genome. (Perhaps it could be phosphorilated or in some other manner rendered bioologically inactive in the parasite.)
The idea is that as the telomeres of the host's genome break down, it triggers the biological equivalent of running fsck on the host genome, then rebuilds the host telomeres- essentially restarting the cell division clock, and rejuvenating the host tissue.
The problem I haven't come up with a suitable answer for, is how to cope if the organisms end up in the WRONG host.
We don't want aunt mae turning into uncle ben on the genetic level after they shag, for instance.
The organisms need a way to update the template, withou updating to a BROKEN template in the host.
I am not a genetic engineer, so I haven't thout too deeply on the matter, but I could deffinately see something like this turning somebody essentially immortal.
Sorry, your "universal cure" is so much more difficult that I don't see it as even worth working on right now.
Problems are:
1) Different cells do different things, and have different genes active at different times.
2) We are rather dependent on lots of micro-organisms that aren't human. So much so that they usually add up to around half our weight (I'm quite uncertain of the exact percentage, but it's hugely more that is commonly believed.) So you'd need to identify and exclude all of the necessary microorganisms from the "cure". And even then it's more complicated, as most of the microorganisms are only allowed to exist in certain parts of the body. So you've got to map micro-organism against location in your exclusion list.
Much easier to just tackle one problem at a time.
I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
Yes, it's more impressive than an "OR" gate (which could simply be two different mechanisms that trigger the same effect), but the word Logic circuit just doesn't do it for me.
You really want to impress me, show me an "XOR" - either of two indications, but not both.
http://2008.igem.org/Team:Davidson-Missouri_Western/DNA_Encoded_XOR_Gates
Looks like these undergrads still have some bugs to work out, but in principle such a thing should be eminently possible given that most genes already have tons of positive and negative regulators that can be easily co-opted and transplanted. The trick is making a robust system with enough dynamic range that you can easily read the output, but with enough finesse that it can dampen the noise as well as mother nature does it.
The AC's link goes to a domain squatted by those "what you need, when you need it" assholes.
Here is the site that I assume the AC meant to link to (one of several near-identical sites, also including cancerfungus.com).
Here is a Wikipedia article mentioning Tullio Simoncini, the guy behind said site:
For bonus points, here is a defense of the idea written by David Icke, infamous "world leaders are really evil reptile aliens in disguise!" conspiracy theorist. And here is another positive mention at cancerfightingstrategies.com, and here is that site's "where to get products" page with a mix of bogus vitamins, bogus berries, and faith healers.