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Artificial Spleen Removes Ebola, HIV Viruses and Toxins From Blood Using Magnets
concertina226 writes Harvard scientists have invented a new artificial spleen that is able to clear toxins, fungi and deadly pathogens such as Ebola from human blood, which could potentially save millions of lives. When antibiotics are used to kill them, dying viruses release toxins in the blood that begin to multiply quickly, causing sepsis, a life-threatening condition whereby the immune system overreacts, causing blood clotting, organ damage and inflammation. To overcome this, researchers have invented a "biospleen", a device similar to a dialysis machine that makes use of magnetic nanobeads measuring 128 nanometres in diameter (one-five hundredths the width of a single human hair) coated with mannose-binding lectin (MBL), a type of genetically engineered human blood protein.
". When antibiotics are used to kill them, dying viruses release toxins in the blood that begin to multiply quickly" Viruses are killed by antibiotics and toxins can multiply?
Magnetic beads have been used for decades to extract DNA from samples like Blood for instance. In that case we also use polarity: as DNA it negatively charged, it will bind to positively charged (/coated) bead allowing us to bind and wash the DNA then we can release the beads using low salts when the time for elution comes. An alternative to magnetic beads is membrane based purification but that involves a vacuum source and some form of contraption to force the 'liquid' though the membrane. In this case the beads are coated with a protein (MBL) that will bind (/capture) to the 'toxins'. The coating is what gives the specificity. Now the fact that the beads are magnetic is used to control the beads, capture them and release them at the appropriate stage at the process. In itself the magnetic property of the beads does nothing at the molecular biology level. Therefore the title "Artificial Spleen Removes .... Using Magnets" is completely misleading. But typical in my experience of how usually journalists understand nothing of the Science. I used to work for a company that made transgenic goats and boy oh boy we were always shocked at the news article after the visit, wondering where did the person picked up all this pile of nonsense that was printed. Makes me wonder what else I read is nonsense, for the very few times I was there and then read the article: you'd have to know the real story to find it in the article.