Injectable DNA medibots
It's not quite Fantastic Voyage, but researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel have demonstrated an injectable DNA-based biocomputer that can diagnose and treat certain kinds of cancer. If the computer detects the genetic signature of cancer, it releases a bit of DNA "known to interfere with the cancer cell’s activities, causing it to self-destruct," according to a press release issued by the Institute."One day in the future, they hope to create a 'doctor in a cell,' which will be able to operate inside a living body, spot disease and apply the necessary treatment before external symptoms even appear."Previously, the researchers earned a spot in the 2004 Guinness Book of World Records by constructing the world's smallest biological computing device. One microliter of salt solution can hold 3 trillion of the devices, capable of performing 66 billion operations per second. Link
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David Pescovitz
Collector of anomalies, esoterica, and curiosities.
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