Scientists Create Semi-Living 'Cyborg' Cells That Could Transform Medicine

Through a complex chemical process, scientists have been able to develop versatile, synthetic 'cyborg' cells in the lab. They share many characteristics of living cells while lacking the ability to divide and grow.

That non-replication part is important. For artificial cells to be useful, they need to be carefully controlled, and that can't happen as easily if they're propagating in the same way that actual cells do.

While able to maintain much of their normal biological functions, these cyborg cells proved to be more resistant to stressors like high pH and antibiotic exposure – stressors that would kill off normal cells. Much like actual cyborgs, they're tough.

. . . this will not end well . . .

Perhaps. Or not.

For now, gene editing is already producing cures for many types of blood cancers. Go to You Tube and look at the vids that pop up with this search term: "CAR-T"

CAR-T is an acronym for "chimeric antigen receptor T-cell." It's a therapy for some types of lymphoma that works like this:

T-cells or natural killer cells are harvested from the patient's blood.
These T-cells are then sent to a lab where their DNA is edited so that they acquire the capability to grow an antigen receptor which formerly they did not have.
This new antigen receptor is a way for the T-cell to recognize, bind to, and kill the lymphoma cell infesting the patient.
The newly "upgraded" T-cells are then multiplied in the lab until they amount to several million (a small vial).
These upgraded T-cells are then infused back into the patient's blood stream, after which they go to work ridding his body of the noxious and deadly lymphoma cells.

I had this therapy applied to myself last June. It was a sort of "Hail Mary" effort after several other attempts to scotch my lymphoma had failed and the cancer was aggressively spreading throughout my body. I am now seven months out, and there's no clinical sign of lymphoma.

It's early days, of course. But previously, the particular version of lymphoma I have (or had) prior to this therapy killed its victims within 10 months post-diagnosis. Up until recently, it was a death sentence.

Presently, CAR-T therapy has revolutionized treatment of many blood cancers. It's not been effective (thus far) on solid cancers like breast, lung, pancreas, and similar cancers.

But, I'm alive now thanks to this therapy. Many patients who received this therapy while in clinical trials show every sign of being cured of previously incurable immune system cancers.

I'm thinking more like bacteria, but same idea.

Bacteria contain a full DNA sequence and replicate without a host. Viruses only contain an RNA sequence and require a host cell to "donate" the necessary pairs. It's even questionable whether they can be classified as a living organism. My understanding is that possessing only half the necessary DNA (the "D" stands for "Di" or 2 pairs of RNA strands) sequence is why they mutate so easily. And that makes them persistent and not affected by antibiotics. They're not "bio". You know, like these lab monsters the article describes.

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