As AIDS technology has advanced over the years, a techniques has been developed to treat patients called immunotherapy. This treatment involves drawing blood from a subject and exposing the cells, modifying them outside the body(through exposure to a disease, thus developing immunity), and then injecting them back into the person. The only problem with this practice is that it is extremely costly and has a tendency to take an irregularly long time, which is something that patients with fatal illnesses do not have.
A new device has been developed by a company named SQZ Biotech which will theoretically expedite this process of immunotherapy. The device is able to pump a foreign substance through micro channels at high pressure. When the device comes in contact with a cell the pressure squeezes the cell, thus changing it's shape and bending the cell walls. When the cell is bent in such a way the membrane becomes permeable and the substance is forced in so quickly that the cell's natural defense mechanisms do not have time to expel the substance.
During testing this treatments has already proved invaluable to the development of a cure to diseases such as HIV and cancer. Recently a teams of biologists at SQZ and other research labs have begun using this device to introduce cancer related proteins into cells which exponentially increases their immunity to cancer. Research has shown that this device has actually shrunken tumors in several subjects.
I am sure that in the near future the medical industry will be riddled with advancements like this which is why the STEM field is so integral to the success of not only our country but our entire planet.
Hi Max, thanks for sharing. How do the researchers ensure the treated cells survive? Under this treatment, the cell's membrane becomes exposed to extremely high pressures, which would consequently also raise the temperature, but also damaged by the substance injection. I would imagine the cell dies under the condition, so how?
ReplyDelete