[HN Gopher] Engineered photosynthesis demonstrated in animals in...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Engineered photosynthesis demonstrated in animals in vivo via
       synthetic biology
        
       Author : sethbannon
       Score  : 45 points
       Date   : 2022-12-07 19:39 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.nature.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.nature.com)
        
       | clnq wrote:
       | This is very interesting. In a limited but substantial way,
       | transplanting parts of the photosynthetic cell system could help
       | with a lot of cell-centric metabolic deficiencies in people, from
       | T1 diabetes to hypoxia in general. The delivery method seems to
       | be cumbersome. But perhaps in the next decade we'll have CRISPR
       | vectors that can deliver genetic information for organelles in a
       | cell, and that could also help with rejection.
       | 
       | Slightly related - this study reminds me of an Andy Weir short
       | story Antihypoxiant -
       | http://www.galactanet.com/oneoff/antihypoxiant.html.
        
         | mwcampbell wrote:
         | If you read that story all the way through, I think it's a good
         | warning against applying "move fast and break things" to
         | biotech.
        
       | macrolime wrote:
       | Can't wait for the first little green men (phosynthetic humans)
        
         | dahfizz wrote:
         | I wonder how it will change the livestock industry. Not having
         | to feed animals alleviates the environmental concerns about
         | eating meat, and would make meat cheaper.
         | 
         | Hell, I would buy myself some photosynthesizing cows and pigs
         | if I can just put them in a pen outside and not have to feed
         | them.
        
         | gus_massa wrote:
         | There is a relevant analysis in https://what-if.xkcd.com/17/
         | about a "green" cow that can get energy from photosynthesis.
        
       | sethbannon wrote:
       | Worth noting that they were able to treat osteoarthritis in mice
       | using transplanted mammalian cells engineered to photosynthesize.
       | They also posit that this can be used to treat common
       | degenerative diseases in humans by enhancing cell anabolism (the
       | process by which cells utilize energy to build molecules and
       | other things like proteins and lipids from smaller molecules).
       | Though still much work to be done there.
        
         | [deleted]
        
       | dr_dshiv wrote:
       | Clearly the future of ethical vegetarianism.
        
         | recuter wrote:
         | The other kind of beyond meat. If we can pretend plants are
         | meat we can pretend meat is plants goddamnit!
        
         | JunkEmu wrote:
         | Puts the green in soylent green
        
       | xeonmc wrote:
       | MY LIFE FOR AIUR
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2022-12-07 23:00 UTC)