Team:UCSF/Future Applications

=VISION: Example of a possible application=

In the previous sections we have shown you that we can steer cells to new targets, control their speed and attach a payload. Here we describe our vision of what we could do with these engineered cells in the future.

One target for our cells could be carcinoid tumors:


 * these tumors are located in the gut and lungs and are often malignant
 * they are small and therefore hard to find
 * they secrete high levels of serotonin - a neuroactive hormone detected by Gi-coupled GPCR

Our approach could be used to engineer a cellular robot that:

or
 * detects serotonin and can chemotax to carcinoid tumors
 * delivers imaging reagents (to aid in surgical removal)
 * delivers targeted chemotherapeutic drugs to kill tumor