Basically, a cell works like a computer in the sense that they both receive and send output. For instance, your body response to high sugar levels is production of insulin. In this case, taking excess sugar is the input while the production of insulin is the output. The same case will apply to the computer, pressing the letter “K” on the keyboard is the input and the letter appearing on your monitor is the output. Biologists are working day and night in the pursuit of trying to control the cells’ processes. They are continuously studying a cells’ DNA over generation and then editing to achieve the ability to control its output.
Recently, news had it that researchers had edited human cells to make them obey up to 109 different logical instructions. Overtime, this achievement might play a major role in helping human cells resist diseases. Based on the explanation of how a cell works, the best fit for the input, although it may vary, will be environmental conditions that will guide the cell to resist diseases.
Wilson Wong, a biologist from Boston University, led the process. He explain the importance of the discovery to science. According to Wong, the programmed cell can be used to diagnosis of diseases. For the cells to diagnose a diseases they have been programmed to light up if they are triggered by a protein associated with the particular diseases. This is quite convenient compared to the current methods, where doctors use expensive machinery to scan blood samples for a particular diseases. This technology is also being used to teach immune cell to have a better ability of diagnosing cancer cells. According to Wong, the technology is not as easy as it sounds. He says the probability to build a genetic circuit is 0.25, and for you to achieve the 25%, you must be lucky.