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Posted on 03/01/2026 1:34:01 PM PST by nickcarraway
New York University Abu Dhabi creates oral LED alternative designed to regulate appetite
An enterprising team of scientists in Abu Dhabi have harnessed cutting-edge technology in a long-term quest to provide patients with a "holy grail" alternative to hugely popular weight-loss drugs.
The researchers from New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) have developed a tiny ingestible device that emits light and, in doing so, could stimulate nerve cells or neurons in the gut, potentially altering which nutrients are absorbed or affecting whether a person feels hungry.
Dr Khalil Ramadi, an assistant professor of bioengineering at NYUAD, who heads the team behind the study, said that using such capsules to manipulate appetite in people was a long-term goal for researchers.
“That’s very much a holy grail of people working on these ingestible devices – to be able to have the next Ozempic buster,” Dr Ramadi, referring to the popular weight-loss drug, told The National.
“We are not there yet, but there are some pretty promising results coming out that suggest that it's within the realm of possibility.”
In the work at the university, rats are fed the capsules, which are then activated to produce light by a wireless mechanism involving a magnetic field, similar to using a wireless charger with a mobile phone.
If the LED devices were being used to influence appetite or absorption in the gut, then certain nerve cells in the gut could have been made light sensitive through genetic manipulation. Switching on the light would then activate the cells.
The sensitivity to light could have been induced by using tiny circular pieces of DNA called plasmids to insert genetic material into the cells.
This was not done during the Abu Dhabi research, but such work is widespread in other laboratories and is part of the emerging field of “optogenetics”, which combines the effects of light and genetics to manipulate cells.
Using the capsules and while also genetically manipulating gut cells to become light sensitive is a potential next step for the researchers.
After being switched on so that they produce light, the LED capsules are expelled by the rats when they defecate.
Gut feeling
One potential real-world use of similar technology in people would be to make the gut contract faster, if an individual has constipation. Weight-control applications may be of even greater interest.
“Could we selectively uptake certain nutrients from food and not others? Can we artificially increase or decrease hunger depending on what diseases we might be looking at?” Dr Ramadi asks.
The experimental work is carried out with rats and mice, Dr Ramadi said, so that the biological effects of the capsules can be better understood.
Parallel to its work on micro-scale devices used with rodents, Dr Ramadi’s group also researches human-scale applications of the technology.
Indeed researchers at many institutions have developed similar LED capsules that humans could ingest and that pass through the digestive system before being expelled when a person goes to the toilet, but these are powered by batteries.
Magnetic attraction
The researchers at NYU Abu Dhabi hope that their work on small capsules powered by magnetic fields could lead to new ways to power human ingestible LED devices that do not require the use of batteries.
When it comes to finding the ideal way to power human-scale devices, Dr Ramadi said that “the jury is still out”.
Dr Ramadi, who is from the US and who has spent five years at NYU Abu Dhabi, said that he and his co-researchers were “really excited” about the potential of their capsules.
“You essentially have a way to transfer power to a really small component and then you can do different things with that power: you can shine an LED, you can activate a switch, you could release a drug. That’s a platform for other things,” he said.
As well as Dr Ramadi, who is the director of NYU Abu Dhabi’s Laboratory for Advanced Neuroengineering and Translational Medicine, the new paper has been written by nine other scientists at NYU Abu Dhabi, including Dr Mohamed Elsherif, the lead author.
Dr Mohamed Elsherif, lead author of the study on the 3D-printed device which is poised to boost patient care. Photo: NYU Abu Dhabi Dr Elsherif said in a statement that the capsule enabled analysis that was not possible with alternative methods involving more invasive approaches. Such invasive methods can involve implanting optical fibres using surgery.
“What makes this capsule unique is that it was entirely fabricated in-house using 3D printing, without the need for cleanroom facilities,” he said.
Ozempic, which is injected, is one of the key new drugs being used to help weight loss. It was developed to treat type 2 diabetes, but it is proving effective at helping people to lose weight through its ability to regulate appetite, something that capsules of the kind being developed at NYU Abu Dhabi could eventually do in people.
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Diet and exercise can go a long way, too, but most people are too lazy.
And I say that with an obese, diabetic relative who’s on that stuff and knows she should eat better and exercise and won’t.
I fail to understand how the risk of going blind, losing fingers and toes, and kidney failure requiring dialysis isn’t enough motivation.
Lost me at First We Have To Manipulate Your Genes.
Or, you could eat less.
Not everyone overweight is because they are lazy. People have medical problems like a injury that has made most exercise very very hard. Some people were born with certain genes that affects their metabolism or body fat. I fit into one of these categories so I feel for anyone that fights weight problems. It’s easy to be critical of overweight folks without knowing them.
I have to eat every two hours or I risk being hungry. I don’t remember the last time I felt hungry but I’m sure I didn’t like it. By eating every two hours I avoid the belly growling and empty stomach syndrome. Sure I’ve ballooned up in weight but what choice did I have?
Who knew Abu Dhabi had scientists?
I’m one of those people who gains weight just seeing a food commercial.
I’m one of those people who gains weight just seeing a food commercial.
I’m one of those people who gains weight just seeing a food commercial.
And remember: folks in Dubai may not like The Flintstones, but the folks in Abu Dhabi do!
Clever!
“””””Not everyone overweight is because they are lazy. People have medical problems like a injury that has made most exercise very very hard. Some people were born with certain genes that affects their metabolism or body fat.”””””
All of that was very rare until recent decades.
Kind of the same here, only my reason is due to the effects of Long Covid and no longer having the stamina to do much in the way of physical exertion.
Put up with the hunger pangs and growling stomach for about two weeks, then wake up one day and realize you don’t need to eat as much? Not being snarky; that’s what I did. January 1st I decided enough was enough. All the studies I found pointed to the lowest safe calorie intake for me was 1200, with basic supplementation to be on the safe side. I said to myself, “let’s do it.”
First two weeks were hellish. Figured I quit smoking, quit drugs, and quit a crazy ex-wife, I can quit damned over-eating. Stuck to it.
Down 37.7 pounds to date, averaging 4.2 pounds a week. Don’t miss anything cuz I eat what I want, just way less of it. Just make it through those first two weeks, my friend. That’s what it takes.
Lot of should and could in the story.
Me too. And I’m at that age that I just don’t have the stamina anymore.
I understand. Mine is from a back injury and age. Also arthritis.
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