Scientists Figured Out a Way to Control Human Genes With Electricity

BY TIM NEWCOMB PUBLISHED: AUG 2, 2023

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• Dubbed a “missing link,” a team of researchers developed an “electrogenetic interface” to control genes.
• The initial effort uses a battery-powered device to send electrical currents that activate a response in a targeted gene
• The research team believes the electrogenetic interface system offers benefits for future gene or cell therapies.

Electricity can be a powerful tool if you use it wisely—and a team of researchers from ETH Zurich seems to really know how to use it. The scientists claim that they have developed a revolutionary new model of something called an “electrogenetic interface,” which uses electricity to control genes.

In a study published in Nature, the team says the research offers the “missing link” that will allow for the creation of wearable devices capable of controlling genes—with a focus on treating human disease through gene or cell therapy.

“We believe this technology will enable wearable electrogenetic devices to directly program metabolic interventions,” the authors wrote.

“Electronic and biological systems function in radically different ways and are largely incompatible due to the lack of a functional communication interface,” explained the authors. “While biological systems are analog, programmed by genetics, updated slowly be evolution and controlled by ions flowing through insulated membranes, electronic systems are digital, programmed by readily updatable software and controlled by electrons flowing through insulated wires.”

The two meet in the form of direct current-actuated regulation technology (DART), an electrogenetic interface that connects the digital with the analog by using electric current to activate specific gene responses. “Electrogenetic interfaces that would enable electronic devices to control gene expression remain the missing link in the path to full compatibility and interoperability of the electronic and genetic worlds,” the study said.

The work build upon a 2020 study published in Science that showed how implanted human pancreatic cells in mice with type 1 diabetes could be impacted by electricity. The goals of both the 2020 device and the new one were to returning mice blood glucose levels to acceptable levels—and they worked.

According to Vice, however, the new design is a serious upgrade. It still uses electrically stimulating acupuncture needles to switch on the exact genes involved in regulating doses of insulin, but it’s both more efficient and easy to use.

The study says that DART provides a reversible and tunable eletrogenetic interface that operates with readily available batteries. “Notably,” they wrote, “DART requires very little power and overall energy to control target gene expression.”

Tackling diabetes served as the device’s proof-of-concept, but the researchers expect the model to be a straightforward solution to a wide range of biopharmaceutical challenges. “We believe,” they said, “simple electrogenetic interfaces such as DART that functionally interconnect analog biological systems with digital electronic devices hold great promise for a variety of future gene- and cell-based therapies.”