They’re crazy in the biology world. Created cyborg cells that can survive where others cannot

For thousands of years, humanity has been manipulating microbes to work for us, going back to when humans first used yeast to make bread and drinks.

However, science does not stand still, and since then, scientists have come a long way – today they made another scientific breakthrough. This time around, the researchers created unique semi-living “cyborg cells” that can survive in conditions unsuitable for natural cells to survive.

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To do this, scientists used synthetic biology, which is basically the application of engineering principles to open new possibilities for biological systems and organisms. In general, this can be done in several different ways:

• genetic modification of living cells – producing drugs, breaking down plastic, storing data, etc. using for;
• creating completely new organisms from scratch.

In a new study, a group of scientists from the University of California developed a third method that is fundamentally new, essentially a hybrid of the existing two.

Scientists used existing living bacteria, then stuffed them with building blocks of an artificial polymer and exposed them to ultraviolet radiation – as a result, the polymer turned into a hydrogel and gave the cells a stronger shell. Thus, scientists created a “cyborg cell”. For example, bacteria were still able to perform most of their biological activities:

• metabolism;
• movement and production of proteins.

However, according to the study’s senior author, Chemeng Tan, these cells could no longer divide and grow – these cells were programmed not to divide, maintain biological functions, and learn unnatural abilities.

During the study, the scientists conducted a series of experiments and concluded that “cyborg cells” survive better in conditions that would kill ordinary living cells, including exposure to:

• hydrogen peroxide;
• antibiotics;
• high pH levels.

Meanwhile, the scientists did not stop there, in other experiments they programmed “cyborgs” so that they could invade other cells – for example, cancer cells that also grow in the laboratory. Researchers are hopeful. We are talking about the future application of this technology to the development of methods for diagnosing and possibly and possibly treating cancer – for example, the delivery of drugs to cancer cells using “cyborgs”.

The team plans to continue research to learn more about “cyborg cells” and expand their capabilities.

Previously Focus He wrote that 2.6 billion-year-old resurrected proteins are still able to organize cells.