In what they believe is a wearable breakthrough, researchers stimulated engineered cells to control insulin expression in mice. [Illustration by Nathan Devery via Adobe Stock]
Researchers at ETH Zurich in Switzerland say they’ve made a wearable breakthrough, developing an electrogenetic interface to enable transgene expression in human cells.They call their work DART, for direct current (DC)-actuated regulation technology. It uses power “to generate non-toxic levels of reactive oxygen species that act via a biosensor to reversibly fine-tune synthetic promoters,” they said in a paper published in Nature Metabolism.
“We designed an electrogenetic interface consisting of genetic components that render human cells responsive to DC-triggered electrostimulation and enable exclusive, DC-adjustable transgene expression,” the researcher said.
The researchers bel…