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Human Cells Naturally 'Eat' Silicon Nanowires (ieee.org)
the_newsbeagle writes: By showing that human cells naturally engulf minuscule silicon nanowires, a material scientist from the University of Chicago has opened the way to intracellular electronics. Applications could include very specialized drug delivery, electrically stimulating the organelles inside the cell, or recording the signals that pass between those internal structures. From IEEE Spectrum: "Using both an electron microscope and a specialized optical imaging tool designed by the team, the group recorded the eating of the nanowires in detail. It appears that the cell's outer membrane folds itself like a pocket, grabs the nanowire, and envelops it in a membrane-lined bubble. The process is called phagocytosis; it's the same method used by immune cells to grab a bit of bacteria and swallow it up. Once the nanowire is inside, the cell's machinery then shuttles it through its system with sudden bursts of speed -- up to 99.4 nanometers per second -- and deposits it just outside the cell's nucleus. Tian's group made a video of the process (complete with melodramatic accompaniment)."
the cell's machinery then shuttles it through its system with sudden bursts of speed -- up to 99.4 nanometers per second
Don't let the Street Outlaw 405 gang know about this, they'll be absolutely green with jealousy!
god IEEE... ALL KINDS of security warnings...
No wonder the ACM is better (>_>)
what good is it to control a couple of cells? One would think thousands would need to make a measurable difference in an organism size of a human. Imagine wiring up thousands of connections? Think phone relays of the old. Now picture it inside your body. I'd like to see where this goes though. Definite progress has been made.
I can't be the only one who read the summary as "A mad scientist from the University of Chicago"
what good is it to control a couple of cells?
Being able to get a nanowire to 'terminate' inside a cell is a big step forward for biological to electronic interfaces. In particular it helps open the door to being able to directly wire an implant to brain cells, as opposed to the rather crude methods currently being experimented with (which are basically just a spike right through the tissue). Next is to try to be able to do it on a larger scale.
But as usual, the summary is absolute shit. The cells are NOT "eating" nanowires, that would indicate they are dissolving/digesting or otherwise destroying them. Getting them to engulf the wires is far more exciting in terms of what sort of applications this could have, in particular because they are NOT "eating" them.
XKCD https://xkcd.com/644/
I seem to once remember hearing another example of nanostructures finding their way into cells easily, and it didn't go well for the cell, in the longer run. I certainly hope they're doing extended life testing with this.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
What are the specific cells used in the study? That will be the commanding factor in this finding. Blood cells? Awesome. Liver cells? kidney cells? skin cells? I mean seriously how broad could they have left that.
Ummm, I thought one of the reasons that asbestos is so dangerous is that it readily pierce cells and allows materials to move through the membranes
I'm not claiming that this nano-wire thing is as dangerous as asbestos, just that some modicum of restrain should be exercised
Tell me why this could not fight cancer
I predict this interesting story of a new discovery with fascinating potential gets maybe 30 comments, perhaps one on topic.
Did leaning in to the russian troll/fake news hurricane pump up your numbers enough to sell off the smoldering pile of crap that remains? Its clear the OG nerds that made this place interesting are long gone. It will be interesting to see how interested the new crowd is in spend all their time defending rather than attacking.
Active skillsofts? Could these nanowires pick up tuned transmissions and further interact on a cellular level? Perhaps even figuring out how to make them so their only absorbed into specific types of cells...
Controlling cells by having them engulf silicon nanowires.
I feel like I'm living in a science fiction novel.
As far as I know the problem with asbestos is that the fibres are too big for the immune cells to swallow them. They stay in place and cause a constant inflammation.
Well, I don't see either how they want to connect something to such fibres, didn't read the article though
Slashdot readers are technical people but are usually trained in the computer and engineering sciences. I'm a biochemist and I've been here since the beginning but I certainly do not come here for biological quality.
I perused the paper. It is in a good journal and it looks like some good work.
Single application question: how does phagocytosis of silicon nanowires differ in any significant way from good old run of the mill asbestos?
Answer: for those dreaming of a bioelectric interface I put forward that these silicon nanowires will cause cancer.
The authors do not address this and do not provide any experiment that would overcome this hurdle.
Our cells are already ready and anxiously waiting for the next evolutionary step: integrating with machines. Cancer is just they way of expressing the will to leave the collective that has betrayed them with its lack of technology adoption.
Just like fish and sea mammals and birds eat 'naturally' the tiny pieces of plastic in the ocean.
They swallow them, but they don't break them down, which means that when the cell dies (which it will), the material goes on a second journey and so on.
Religion is what happens when nature strikes and groupthink goes wrong.
Human cells also gobble up asbestos fibres, if I remember correctly. I would be interested in knowing what studies are being made to check out potential negative consequences - as well as, of course, what this research promisis.
That`s the time when we will all benefit from it, as usual.
That might be just the mechanism for development of silicosis. The cell gobbles up silicone junk and chokes on it.