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Java Medicine Science

Scientists Use Caffeine To Control Genes (arstechnica.com) 38

Posted by BeauHD from the proof-of-concept dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: A team led by Martin Fussenegger of ETH Zurich in Basel has shown that caffeine can be used as a trigger for synthetic genetic circuitry, which can then in turn do useful things for us -- even correct or treat medical conditions. For a buzz-worthy proof of concept, the team engineered a system to treat type 2 diabetes in mice with sips of coffee, specifically Nespresso Volluto coffee. Essentially, when the animals drink the coffee (or any other caffeinated beverage), a synthetic genetic system in cells implanted in their abdomens switches on. This leads to the production of a hormone that increases insulin production and lowers blood sugar levels -- thus successfully treating their diabetes after a simple morning brew.

The system, published Tuesday in Nature Communications, is just the start, Fussenegger and his colleagues suggest enthusiastically. "We think caffeine is a promising candidate in the quest for the most suitable inducer of gene expression," they write. They note that synthetic biologists like themselves have long been in pursuit of such inducers that can jolt artificial genetics. But earlier options had problems. These included antibiotics that can spur drug-resistance in bacteria and food additives that can have side effects. Caffeine, on the other hand, is non-toxic, cheap to produce, and only present in specific beverages, such as coffee and tea, they write. It's also wildly popular, with more than two billion cups of coffee poured each day worldwide.
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Scientists Use Caffeine To Control Genes More

Scientists Use Caffeine To Control Genes

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  • Does that mean you can only have one coffee per day?

    I don't think they've thought this idea all the way through.

    • Does that mean you can only have one coffee per day?

      I don't think they've thought this idea all the way through.

      My thoughts exactly. Caffeine is in a lot of common products like chocolate, soda, tea, and coffee and people consume different amounts of these each day. Yes, it's relatively safe but if you are using it to regulate the release of insulin you need to strictly control the amount consumed so that you get the amount of insulin you want. This might work for lab animals but people aren't going to want to voluntarily go on a caffeine restricted/regulated diet. You need a safe substance that isn't regularly

      • Obviously insulin was a proof of concept, not the real application.

        • Obviously insulin was a proof of concept, not the real application.

          I'm not sure that's the case but it doesn't matter if it's insulin or any other drug/medicine. A drug delivery system generally needs to delivery a very specific dose of the given medicine. I don't see how they can closely regulate the delivery of a drug using a chemical marker that is widely used in varying amounts.

          • Well,
            obviously the proov of concept is about trigerring the expression of a gene via some thing you can acquire and consume easily, it is not about drug delievery per se.
            (facepalm)

    • Does that mean you can only have one coffee per day?

      It depends on how sick you are. Caffeine Gene Control works according to the medicinal laws of Homeopathic Dilution . . . so the more the caffeine is diluted, the higher its Caffeine Gene Control potency.

      So, if you are normal and healthy, drink all the coffee you want . . . the high concentrations of caffeine means that it will not try to control your genes.

      If you are sick . . . just drink a thimbleful of coffee, and the high dilution, high potency caffeine will control your genes, and you will soon feel

  • The trial had one odd side effect (Score:5, Funny)

    by Applehu Akbar ( 2968043 ) on Sunday July 01, 2018 @10:55AM (#56874650)

    the team engineered a system to treat type 2 diabetes in mice with sips of coffee, specifically Nespresso Volluto coffee

    Without even being asked to, the mice coded a small but functional operating system for Raspberry Pi. Though it was quickly infested with catware, it did basically run.

  • Is there anything it can't do`?

  • Diabetes was a poor choice for this experiment. Most diabetics ( the common type 2 ) already produce massive quantities of insulin after eating carbohydrates. The insulin floods their body, but because of the frequency of these events, the receptors that use the insulin are exhausted and unable to manage the glucose. This insulin excess combined with the untreated glucose is stressful to the body and the brain, which is why diabetics are often sleepy after a poorly chosen meal, and prone to dementia.

    There i

  • There are a lot of bio-active chemicals in coffee, caffeine being the most obvious. Interchangeably using the words coffee and caffeine to report the results of an experiment is sloppy and misleading.

  • Geneticists Learn to Code in Java

  • Some people have caffeine cause multiple health problems and can't use it. Like myself for example. Guess we get cut out of the medical future.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dcw3 ( 649211 )

      And others, like myself, have no trouble drinking 6-10 Mt. Dews a day for 40+ years w/o any sideEFfecTs.

  • I use caffeine to control scientists.
  • How many cups of coffee did you have today? I had about 5 strong cups yesterday. I foresee people ending up in the hospital with low blood sugar on a regular basis. And it is NOT " ...only present in specific beverages, such as coffee and tea..". This is just being deliberately stupid to support a thing you want to do.
  • Read it as "Scientists use caffeine to control Gases" and was dumbfounded for a minute!

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