Researchers have made a new breakthrough using reengineered proteins to “unlock” abilities within the human body, which could stop cancer growth and may even regenerate damaged neurons.
Stanford University bioengineer Jennifer Cochran has spent years studying and reengineering protein messengers known as ligands.
Ligands regulate biological processes in our lungs, bones, blood vessels and other major organs and are therefore critical to the fight against most of the ailments that plague humanity. Building on research completed in 2019, Cochran and her colleagues successfully engineered one ligand to produce two very different but equally dramatic results: one caused neuronal cells to regenerate while minor changes to the same protein inhibited lung tumor growth.
While the research has only yet been performed on rat and human cells in laboratory conditions, the team hopes it could revolutionize our ability to tackle a range of illnesses.
This sounds pretty cool on the surface but maybe because I've seen so many scenarios where this turns out bad, I am a bit skeptical. These researchers are for the most part genuine with their desire to help people but then someone comes in and takes it all to make billions. This stuff should be open source!