In an article published in the journal Advanced Science, researchers described the creation of cyborg cells, which are true hybrids between natural and synthetic cells. The invention can help the health area by preventing or treating diseases.
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The experts’ idea is to unite “the best of both worlds”, considering that natural cells can perform complex tasks, but the fact that they replicate can cause safety concerns in biomedical applications, while an artificial cell can guarantee non-replicating materials in a function defined and controllable, but lacks the sometimes necessary biochemical complexity.
With this, the authors of the article intend to overcome the limitations, with the development of a hybrid. To create this material, the group assembled a network of synthetic polymers inside bacterial cells, making them incapable of dividing.
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As those responsible for the research explain, these newly constructed cells can preserve the essential functions of a natural cell and acquire new abilities to resist stressors that would otherwise kill natural cells.
The authors believe that this novelty could open the door to further studies on cell division and lead to new applications, such as antibacterial treatment or even cancer therapy, in the future.
These cyborg cells have the potential to become a new class of synthetic therapy delivery systems, as projected by the researchers involved. Recently, a team of researchers discovered a new method to slow down the aging of cells.
Read the article on Canaltech.
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