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Team:UCSF/Future Applications
From 2009.igem.org
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* these tumors are located in the '''gut and lungs''' and are often '''malignant''' | * these tumors are located in the '''gut and lungs''' and are often '''malignant''' | ||
* they are small and therefor '''hard to find''' | * they are small and therefor '''hard to find''' | ||
| - | * they '''secrete high levels of serotonin''' - a neuroactive | + | * 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: | Our approach could be used to '''engineer a cellular robot''' that: | ||
Revision as of 00:44, 21 October 2009
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 therefor 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:
- detects serotonin and can chemotax to carcinoid tumors
- delivers imaging reagents (to aid in surgical removal)
or
- delivers targeted chemotherapeutic drugs to kill tumor
