Page 28 - aruba-today-20190211

A28 SCIENCE
Monday 11 February 2019
Pea-sized pill delivers insulin shot from inside the stomach

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sci- cally rolls in the right direc-
entists figured out how to tion to latch on, Traverso
hide a shot inside a pea- explained.
sized pill — creating a swal- Next the team designed a
lowable gadget, inspired micro-injector, like a nee-
by a tortoise shell, that can dle only made of dried
inject medicines like insulin insulin compressed into a
from inside the stomach. sharp point. To power it,
Patients usually prefer oral researchers bound a tiny
treatment, and comply spring to a hardened sugar
with it better, but many disk.
compounds, including in- Stomach acid gradually
sulin for diabetes, can't sur- dissolves the sugar until the
vive the harsh trip through spring pops, shooting the
the digestive system. insulin into the stomach
The new invention, report- wall.
ed Thursday by a Massa- In pigs, the ingestible injec-
chusetts Institute of Tech- tion lowered blood sugar to
nology-led research team, levels comparable to stan-
has been tested only in dard shots, according to
animals so far. But if it pans This undated photo provided by researchers in February 2019 shows the components of swallow- the study published Thurs-
out, it might offer a work- able self-righting device which can inject drugs from inside the stomach. day in the journal Science.
around to make not just in- Associated Press Once the insulin was ab-
sulin but a variety of usually sorbed, the capsule, made
injected medicines a little ways to protect insulin from gastroenterologist at Bos- where it can poke into the of stainless steel and a bio-
easier to take. digestive breakdown and ton's Brigham & Women's right spot, even if some- degradable material, float-
"It's like a miniaturized rock- then help it be absorbed Hospital and a senior au- one's moving around. Re- ed free and was excreted.
et launcher" for insulin, said through the intestine into thor of the study. searchers looked to nature "It's a very clever idea,
Willem Mulder of Mount Si- the bloodstream. So far "The way this works is it trav- for ideas. that is meant to solve a
nai's Translational and Mo- none has reached the mar- els down the esophagus in A certain tortoise, the leop- very long-standing prob-
lecular Imaging Institute, ket, although some closely seconds, it's in the stomach ard tortoise from Africa, lem," said University of Pitts-
who wasn't involved in the watched candidates are within a few minutes, and can right itself if flipped burgh chemical engineer-
new research. being tested. then you get the drug," said onto its back thanks to the ing chairman Steven Little,
Scientists have spent de- An ingestible injection Traverso, who worked with steep curve of its shell. Re- who also wasn't part of
cades trying to develop oral could bypass the hazards a team from the lab of MIT searchers crafted a minia- the research. Because the
insulin and replace at least of that journey — letting inventor Robert Langer and ture capsule with a similar gadget passes through,
some of the daily shots that insulin absorb through the insulin maker Novo Nordisk. shape and a weighted bot- "the only thing adminis-
many people with diabetes wall of the stomach, said The first challenge: How to tom, so that once it reach- tered to the body is this little
require. Attempts include Dr. Giovanni Traverso, a make sure the device lands es the stomach it automati- injector."q

Stanford probes faculty ties to

China gene-edited baby work

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE purposes is too risky to be discouraged any such ex-
AP Chief Medical Writer tried yet because of the periment. Quake said he
Stanford University has danger of harming other only discussed the matter
started a review of inter- genes and because the in broad, general terms
actions that some faculty DNA changes may be with He.
members had with He Ji- passed to future genera- After He's work was re-
ankui, the Chinese scientist tions. vealed, Rice University in
who claims to have helped He did postdoctoral re- Houston announced an in-
make gene-edited babies. search at Stanford and vestigation into interactions
In this Oct. 9, 2018 file photo, an embryo receives a small dose
of Cas9 protein and PCSK9 sgRNA in a sperm injection micro- Several Stanford profes- began the gene editing between He and his former
scope in a laboratory in Shenzhen in southern China's Guang- sors have said they knew project after returning to adviser at that school, Mi-
dong province, during work by scientist He Jiankui's team or strongly suspected He his homeland for a job at chael Deem.
Associated Press wanted to try gene editing Southern University of Sci- On Thursday, Stanford
on embryos intended for ence and Technology of spokesman E.J. Miranda
pregnancy. China in Shenzhen. said in an email that Stan-
The work has been widely Several Stanford profes- ford is reviewing "the cir-
criticized since Novem- sors including He's former cumstances around Dr.
ber, when He revealed the adviser, Stephen Quake; He's interactions with re-
births of twins whose DNA bioethicist Dr. William Hurl- searchers at the univer-
he said he altered to try to but and genetics expert Dr. sity." Miranda said he had
help them resist possible fu- Matthew Porteus have said no additional information
ture infection with the AIDS they were in contact with on questions about who
virus. He over the last year. would do the review, what
Most scientists think gene Hurlbut and Porteus said would be examined and
editing for reproductive they disapproved of and how long it would take.q