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The "friendly" bacteria inside our digestive systems are being given an upgrade, which may one day allow them to be programmed to detect and ultimately treat diseases such as colon cancer and immune disorders.
In a paper published in the journal Cell Systems, researchers at MIT unveil a series of sensors, memory switches, and circuits that can be encoded in the common human gut bacterium Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron.
These basic computing elements will allow the bacteria to sense, memorize, and respond to signals in the gut, with future applications that might include the early detection and treatment of inflammatory bowel disease or colon cancer.
Researchers have previously built genetic circuits inside model organisms such as E. coli. However, such strains are only found at low levels within the human gut, according to Timothy Lu, an associate professor of biological engineering and of electrical engineering and computer science, who led the research alongside Christopher Voigt, a professor of biological engineering at MIT.
You can see it now, can't you? "Dave...I'm not comfortable with the pizza you ate, Dave. I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill, and think things over."
(Score: 2, Insightful) by seeprime on Sunday July 12 2015, @10:27PM
Since we're still in the realm of science fiction with this, or at least in the pre-practical application area, I'll state that I'd rather have a man-made nanobot machine do work inside my body instead of a DNA modified bacteria that likely would alter the DNA of other bacteria in ways that could not be predicted. Bacteria do share DNA. At least a non-DNA based machine could be programmed to die when it's job is done or be turned off via WiFi if wonky things begin to happen. Then again, I'm not a Biologist.