Manipulating microbes to work for us has been a staple of human civilization for thousands of years, ever since we learned how to use yeast to make bread and liquor. , scientists have created semi-living “cyborg cells” that can survive in environments in which natural cells cannot.
New research falls into the field of synthetic biology. This basically means applying engineering principles to biological systems and organisms to endow them with new capabilities. There are several ways to do that. Living cells can be genetically engineered to make drugs, break down plastic, and even store data. Alternatively, scientists can design entirely new synthetic organisms from scratch.
For new research, researchers at the University of California, Davis, have developed a third method that is like a hybrid of the other two. They took pre-existing living bacteria and injected them with artificial polymer building blocks. When cells are exposed to UV light, the polymer begins to crosslink into the hydrogel, giving it a tougher shell.
The end result is something called a cyborg cell. Bacteria can still carry out most biological activities such as metabolism, locomotion, and protein production, but they can no longer divide and grow.
“Cyborg cells are programmable, do not divide, maintain essential cellular activity, and acquire non-native abilities,” said Cheemeng Tan, senior author of the study.
In tests, the cyborg cells were much better at surviving conditions that would normally kill unmodified cells, such as exposure to hydrogen peroxide, antibiotics, and high pH levels. was tweaked to allow it to penetrate cancer cells grown in the lab. This suggests that it could eventually be used for diagnosing diseases and delivering drugs to treat them.
The team plans to continue investigating cyborg cells to find ways to better control them, try other polymer materials, and test their potential applications.
A study was published in a journal advanced science.
Source: University of California, Davis
