Retrons Could Revolutionize Medical Research

The discovery of how retrons work could lead to enormous strides in medical diagnosis. Biologists already know that retrons are active in animal cells, and presumably in human cells. Lu and his coworkers believe that the human body could be seeded with specially engineered cells that could later be recovered for analysis, much as wildlife researchers set up cameras to record the movement of animals in the wild.

A Monitor For Cancer

How would this work? Dr. Lu believes that the best use of these monitor cells would be to record the signals cells send each during disease processes. For instance, cell signaling and failures in cell signaling are important parts of the development of cancer.

They send out signals to cells to build blood vessels that provide them with additional oxygen and nutrients. They can help each other become "immortal," ignoring inflammation that causes healthy cells to stop multiplying, become quiet, and not replace themselves before they die.

A seed of genetically engineered monitor cells could be placed near a tumor. The retrons in these cells would record whether nearby cells send out signals to the tumor to stop it, and how strong the signal was. They would record the signals that cause the formation of new blood vessels during the process of angiogenesis, and how strong they were, and likewise they would record the effects of inflammation. These Removable cells would tell not only whether there was a presence of absence of cancer-causing or cancer-stopping factors, but how strong or weak they were, when they occurred, and when they were weakened or amplified.

An Explanation For Brain Function Or IBS

Likewise, retrons could be used to explain how neural networks form in the brain. They could record the changes in growth factors and neurotransmitters that accompany the formation of memories. (Most likely this research would be conducted in the laboratory with samples of human brain tissue, since it is highly unlikely that there is an ethical, approved approach for inserting packets of cells into the living brains of people who volunteer for research studies). Or retrons could be used to document the currently elusive changes that cause episodes of irritable bowel syndrome, also known as IBS.

Many technical challenges, of course, have to be resolved before retrons are a useful tool of medical research.

Dealing with the fact that cells mutate is another. It's possible that the genes that control the activity of retrons could change during the process of observation. And analysis of changes in retrons is not likely to be useful in studying processes that involve relatively small numbers of cells. Irritable bowel syndrome, for example, involves billions of cells in the lining of the gut. Changes in retrons would be easy to trace. The formation of a memory may involve a small number of neurons, and a small number of retrons may not capture the "intensity" of the cellular signals involved in the process.

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Scientists believe, however, that these problems can be solved, and retron analysis will provide useful information on not just the presence of certain cellular processes, but the importance of their intensity. Many of the technical problems with using the technique are already being resolved.