Scientist in Baltimore has discovered a catfish gene that, when activated in a rodent brain, can sense electromagnetic fields. There are numerous animals, throughout all types and species, expect humans (supposedly), that can sense the feeble network of Earth’s electromagnetic global field. The glass catfish is one of those animals and Galit Pelled, the lead researcher and associate professor at John Hopkins University School of Medicine and Kennedy Kreiger Institute, plus his team are hoping it’s electromagnetic perceptive gene (EPG) will one day be used to manipulate heart and brain cells. This non-evasive wireless technique of controlling human cells could replace pacemakers, treat epilepsy, or even help create an interface between the human brain and a machine.
Previously, researchers discovered similar genes in bacteria and birds but those created a chemical compound responsible for sensing the magnetic fields. This recent discovery, which was presented by Pelled at the 2017 International IEEE EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering, is different since the gene works alone for function and is, therefore, simpler to manipulate.
By injecting different strands of the catfish gene into frog eggs, Pelled and his lab mates were eventually able to discover which eggs responded to magnets and which bits of DNA were responsible for the electromagnetic perception.
While Assaf Gilad, co-author of the study and an associate professor of radiology at Johns Hopkins Medicine, says “We don’t know exactly what the protein is doing,” they do know the end result. The responsible protein adheres to a cell surface and then the cell is filled with calcium. In heart cells and neurons, a sudden flush of calcium turns the cell on, so it begins to beat or fire. By expressing the genes in a group of brain cells, and later, a living rat brain, the team of researchers could activate the neural cells with only an electromagnetic field and no other devices.
Currently, doctors are able to treat conditions such as epilepsy and depression, ailments related to misfiring neurons, using invasive deep brain stimulation. Gilad hopes that with EPGs, delivered by gene therapy or transplants, these illnesses could be eased through wireless manipulation instead. Similarly, electromagnetic genes have the likelihood to be useful for heart conditions too, replacing traditional pacemakers with a biological one made EPGs. “The ability to remotely control neuronal activity is big,” says Gilad. But it’s still in the early, experimental stages.
At the moment, researchers have only identified one part of the glass catfish’s electromagnetic sensing abilities and their current focus is understanding the system in general with immediate medical applications as their goal.
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