Researchers Say Bionic Cells May Lead to Cures for Diseases

Researchers have developed a new biological weapon that's thinner than a strand of hair.<br>You might call it a bionic cell. A combination of a living cell and a microchip that could lead to new cures

Friday, February 25th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Researchers have developed a new biological weapon that's thinner than a strand of hair.
You might call it a bionic cell. A combination of a living cell and a microchip that could lead to new cures for diseases.

It's part living tissue, part machine. It's an electronic circuit with a human cell inside.
University of California Berkeley researchers call it a bionic chip. â€œWe brought together live cells with electronics,â€ said researcher Boris Rubinsky. â€œSo now a live cell becomes part of an electronic circuit with predictable behavior.â€

Researchers believe it could revolutionize cancer treatment. Here's how. A prostate cancer cell is drawn to the microchip by an electric charge. The cell then sits in a hole in the center of the chip kept alive with nutrients. Then at the tap of a computer keyboard, an electronic current can zap the cell, opening up its membranes like a remote-controlled door.

â€œWe can through this particular device, open the cell membrane for precise amounts of time, introduce a drug, and while keeping the cell alive, essentially determine if the drug was successful or not,â€ Rubinsky said.

If the drug is successful, a similar chip could be implanted directly on a tumor inside a patient's body. As a drug is administered, the cell would tell the chip how effectively the drug is working.

The technology is still in its infancy.
Researchers believe it could be available within five years to treat some genetic diseases. â€œIt could have immediate application would be for treatment of cystic fibrosis and diabetes,â€ Rubinsky noted.

Researchers say if electronic microchips made computers possible who knows what's possible with bionic chips.