Bioengineers Create “Smart Cells” That Detect and Fight Disease in Real-Time

From SciTechDaily

Rice University bioengineers have created a groundbreaking construction kit for designing custom sense-and-respond circuits in human cells. Published in Science, this research marks a significant advancement in synthetic biology, with the potential to transform treatments for complex diseases such as cancer and autoimmune disorders.

“Imagine tiny processors inside cells made of proteins that can ‘decide’ how to respond to specific signals like inflammation, tumor growth markers, or blood sugar levels,” said Xiaoyu Yang, a graduate student in the Systems, Synthetic and Physical Biology Ph.D. program at Rice who is the lead author on the study. “This work brings us a whole lot closer to being able to build ‘smart cells’ that can detect signs of disease and immediately release customizable treatments in response.”