AI: Artificial immunity
Does your immune system falter when fighting the flu? Do you want to be free from medication forever? Are you fed up with infections and diseases winning the war over your body? Sick days begone, for man-made, disease-fighting cells may soon be here! With the help of biologists, engineers, and chemists, Carnegie Mellon University professor of biomedical engineering Philip LeDuc outlined the prospect of such an all-purpose cellular superhero in a January article in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. LeDuc envisioned a “nanofactory” that would target, modify, and deliver the chemicals the body needs to fight off disease by using processes that normally occur in the cell, like molecular transportation. Instead of injecting drugs into the system to treat disease, the super-cells would use naturally available molecules and repackage them into chemicals which the body lacks, or that would otherwise help it fight disease. So, although the proposed nanofactory would be artificial, it would use the body’s own processes to bolster and aid its healing.
Source: Carnegie Mellon University news service
-Sandy Huen
