Wireless Gene Remote Control a dimmer switch for biology

today we're talking about something that
0:01
sounds ripped straight out of a sci-fi
0:03
novel scientists just showed that they
0:05
can flick a magnetic switch and have
0:07
living cells pump out whatever protein
0:10
they programmed no wires no needles just
0:13
an external field it's called wireless
0:15
gene programming and it uses nano
0:18
particles inside the cell itself it's
0:21
equally a medical miracle and a little
0:24
bit spooky all right let's dive in and
0:26
see what kind of physics lets us remote
0:28
control DNA i'm Ben this is Physics or
0:31
Bust so first the nanoparticle itself
Magnetic nanoparticles
0:35
picture a gobstopper only 40 billionth
0:38
of a meter wide at its heart is
0:40
magnetite that's iron oxide with a
0:43
property called super
0:45
paramagnetism translation: When there's
0:47
no magnetic field the particles act
0:49
chill and non-magnetic which means they
0:52
don't clump in the bloodstream but the
0:54
minute you apply an alternating magnetic
0:56
field bam all those little atomic bar
0:59
magnets flip around and soak up energy
1:02
add a slippery biompatible glaze and at
1:05
only 40 nanome wide these magneto
1:08
electric nano particles slip right into
1:11
the cell now the fun part how do we
1:13
change that magnetic energy that the
1:15
core absorbed into something the cell
Magnetoelectric nanoparticles
1:18
can feel there's two types of nanop
1:20
particles that researchers have been
1:22
using magnetothermal and magneto
1:25
electric for a magnetoothermal nano
1:27
particle those flipping magnetic domains
1:30
create friction at the nano scale neil
1:33
and brownie and relaxation if you want
1:35
to sound smart at parties the friction
1:37
releases heat but it's an extremely
1:40
local heat spike with the volume that
1:42
gets a hot spot literally measured in
1:45
phtoto
1:46
the bulk tissue hardly budges in
1:49
temperature but the promoter sitting
1:51
right next to it feels like it's in a
1:54
sauna and kicks the gene into high gear
1:56
in the latest study the team used
1:58
magneto electric nano particles as
2:01
opposed to magnetoothermal they wrapped
2:03
the magnetite core in a pisoctric shell
2:06
materials like barium titanate when the
2:08
core jiggles in the alternating magnetic
2:10
field it squeezes the piso layer basic
2:13
high school physics squeeze a hyo and
2:16
the material changes the mechanical
2:18
energy into electrical energy and you
2:20
get a voltage here that voltage is only
2:23
a few millolts but spread only over a
2:26
few
2:27
nanometers so the electric field is
2:30
really strong the nano particles
2:32
vibration makes a millisecond long
2:34
electric nanopulse this trips nearby
2:37
calcium channels so calcium floods in
2:39
and a calcium sensitive promoter says
2:42
"Yep time to transcribe." And then boom
2:46
insulin dopamine or whatever gene you've
2:48
attached starts pouring out pull the
2:51
magnetic field away and the gene goes
2:53
quiet again it's like having a dimmer
Why 40 nanome
2:55
switch for biology so you might be
2:57
asking why 40 nanome well when the nano
3:01
particles get around 100 nanometers they
3:04
stop being super paramagnetic which
3:06
would mean they'd clump in the
3:07
bloodstream and be bad news and if you
3:10
go too small the core can't carry enough
3:13
magnetic moment to heat or squeeze
3:15
anything so since we're looking not too
3:18
big but not too small the Goldilock zone
3:21
is around 15 to 30 nanome for the core
3:24
and another 5 to 10 nanome for the outer
3:27
shell now since this process utilizes an
3:30
alternating magnetic field that means an
3:33
electromagnetic wave but at what
3:35
frequency they run these experiments at
3:38
around 100 to 500 kHz lower than AM
3:42
radio and way lower than the 64 MHz of
3:45
an MRI that keeps eddycurren heating of
3:48
the human tissue basically non-existent
3:51
while still flipping those nano magnets
3:53
over a 100,000 times a second the lab
3:55
trick to visually see this process in
3:57
action is to tag the gene with something
4:00
flashy green fluorescent protein
4:02
luciferous they pulse the coil wait a
4:05
few minutes and the dish literally
4:07
lights up in mice they switch the green
4:09
fluorescent protein with insulin or
4:12
interlucan 2 then they monitor blood
4:15
glucose or tumor size when the coil is
4:17
off expression drops back to baseline
4:20
full onoff control so there's the design
4:23
of the nano particle a magnetite core
4:25
for power a mechano or piso electric
4:28
shell for conversion and a promoter that
4:30
treats the nanoscopic nudge like a
4:33
megapoam no wires no battery packs just
4:36
physics doing its thing now here's where
4:38
this gets fun treatment of diseases and
4:41
ailments diabetes instead of jabbing
4:44
yourself every day you could wear a
4:46
little RF patch 10 minutes of pulses and
4:49
engineered cells under your skin can
4:51
generate enough insulin to flatten that
4:53
glucose curve cancer doctors could park
4:56
these particles inside the tumor and
4:59
command the cells to drip chemrade
5:01
cytoins only when they're at the clinic
5:04
that way they're under observation and
5:06
the rest of the body is spared one mouse
5:08
study cut systemic toxicity in half
5:12
nervous system disorders neuroscientists
5:15
have already sprinkled magneto electric
5:17
nanoisks onto neurons and made them fire
5:21
on Q no electrodes in the brain imagine
5:24
controlling epilepsy or Parkinson's
5:26
tremors wirelessly and because if they
5:29
swap their promoter they swap the gene
5:31
they could in theory build a single
5:34
universal cell therapy and just decide
5:36
the function afterwards but I do have a
5:39
couple reality checks for you the
5:41
particles do need to reach the right
5:43
tissue in today's experiments that means
5:45
local injection loading cells in a dish
5:48
before implantation or an IV drip
5:50
followed by a steering magnet then
5:52
there's FDA approval assurance of
5:55
long-term safety fully defined rules
5:59
still works in progress but the physics
6:01
says it's doable and the early data is
6:04
fairly promising so that's the fun side
6:06
of it but what about the spooky side so
6:09
let's address that elephant or maybe spy
6:12
in the room because the trigger signal
6:14
is invisible and the nano particles are
6:17
too small to feel biocurity folks should
6:20
be looking at bond level abuse scenarios
Spying
6:23
here's just one scenario someone
6:25
secretly injects a target person with a
6:28
micro needle injection patch just
6:31
through a handshake or other similar
6:33
gesture or aerosol delivers particles
6:36
that have a clotting factor gene days or
6:40
even weeks later the target stands near
6:42
a podium or sits at a place where
6:45
there's a hidden coil maybe under a
6:48
conference podium then a silent RF pulse
6:51
tells the particles "Go." Minutes later
6:54
the target's bloodstream is a minefield
6:56
of micro plots hard to trace because
6:59
you'd actually have to find the nano
7:01
particles inside the body and the target
7:04
dies of a heart attack or stroke is it
7:06
likely not today the doses are high and
7:09
the magnetic field has to be pretty
7:11
strong but it is technically possible
7:14
which should be enough for regulators to
7:16
start sharpening the rule book so
7:18
wireless gene programming a future where
7:21
your medication is literally programmed
7:24
and a great reminder that with great
7:26
power comes great responsibility so what
7:28
interests you most about this tech the
7:30
diabetes fix the neuro hack or the spy
7:34
threat let me know in the comments below
7:36
if you enjoyed this video I think you'd
7:38
like this book i have an affiliate link
7:40
in the description below i do get a
7:42
small commission but it doesn't cost you
7:44
any extra for more updates on space
7:46
science and technology make sure to like
7:47
and subscribe and remember keep asking
7:50
questions i'll see you on the next video