A research team from East China Normal University in Shanghai developed an engineered oral-deliverable glucose-sensing and functional response probiotic (GIFT) living drug.
Using synthetic biology techniques, the research team engineered a probiotic with a century-long history of safety into an “intelligent virtual organ” that can be taken orally and reside temporarily in the intestine. It can sense blood glucose fluctuations in real time and autonomously secrete glucose-lowering hormones, enabling therapeutic dosing in response to real-time blood glucose levels, and providing a programmable, orally deliverable sense-and-respond platform for metabolic therapy without transplantation.
I’m fine with the probiotic bit, but they made it sound like they put it into a ‘synthetic organ’ and I find engineering little organs creepy (though neat). If it’s just a super-probiotic I’m not creeped out! Either way I’m excited for all the people.
I think they’re calling it an organ for the supposed benefit of the reader (and for the shock value of the term “synthetic organ”) because it responds to certain gut conditions in a way that would suggest a more complex functionality than a layperson would attribute to bacteria. It’s not actually an organ.
I HATE IT but I hope it works
What do you hate about it?
Thinking about a little synthetic organ chillin’ in there gives me heebie jeebies! So does my aunt’s pig heart valve though.
I’m fine with the probiotic bit, but they made it sound like they put it into a ‘synthetic organ’ and I find engineering little organs creepy (though neat). If it’s just a super-probiotic I’m not creeped out! Either way I’m excited for all the people.
I think they’re calling it an organ for the supposed benefit of the reader (and for the shock value of the term “synthetic organ”) because it responds to certain gut conditions in a way that would suggest a more complex functionality than a layperson would attribute to bacteria. It’s not actually an organ.
i felt the same way about baboon hearts back in the 90’s, but they worked and helped people.