Electrogenetic interface to program mammalian gene expression by direct current

nature.com

46 points·bookofjoe··8 comments

> In a proof-of-concept study in a type 1 diabetic male mouse model, a once-daily transdermal stimulation of subcutaneously implanted microencapsulated engineered human cells by energized acupuncture needles (4.5 V DC for 10 s) stimulated insulin release and restored normoglycemia.

Borderline unreadable sentence for a lay person like me but the implications of this are awesome.

They stabbed injected human cells under the skin with an electric acupuncture needle to undo diabetes.

They didn’t undo diabetes, they stimulated the release of insulin. You don’t undo diabetes (type 2) by releasing insulin.

And since releasing insulin only creates more insulin resistance by changing receptor density, this is just making it worse.

If you can reliably release insulin you’ve more or less treated type 1 diabetes though.

Regardless, shrug.

The treatment is for type 1, not type 2. Very different causes.

If one human cell requires a voltage of 4.5V, then how much voltage should be applied to an entire human considering the cells are in series?

This article simplifies it a bit : https://medium.com/@1kg/aa-battery-to-replace-your-meds-fbd6...

Genuine question: What is the difference with electroporation, except they did it on a living organism?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroporation

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