Controlling genes with your thoughts

Scientists have developed a mind-control system that allows a person to switch on genes in mice through the power of thought alone. This technology could one day be used in pain management or to pre-empt epileptic seizures.

Researchers at ETH Zurich, led by Professor Martin Fussenegger, have developed a novel gene regulation method that enables thought-specific brainwaves to control the conversion of genes into proteins, i.e. gene expression.

“For the first time, we have been able to tap into human brainwaves, transfer them wirelessly to a gene network and regulate the expression of a gene depending on the type of thought,” said Fussenegger, Professor of Biotechnology and Bioengineering at the Department of Biosystems in Basel.

The inspiration for the research – published in Nature Communications – came from the game ‘Mindflex’, where a special headset is used to control a fan that enables a ball to be thought-guided through an obstacle course.

The team placed an electroencephalography (EEG) device on participants’ foreheads to record their brainwaves. They asked them to adopt three different mental states: bio-feedback, meditation and concentration. The resulting electrical signals were then used to switch on the infra-red LED light in an implant. When the LED light illuminated the cells, they started to produce the desired protein.

[caption id="attachment_40715" align="alignright" width="200"] This diagram shows how the implant takes thoughts, interprets them, and transforms them into electricity to light up a near-infrared LED. (Illustration: Folcher M et al. Nature Communications 2014)[/caption]

The researchers used SEAP for the tests, an easy-to-detect human model protein which diffuses from the culture chamber of the implant into the mouse’s bloodstream, where it can then be monitored. The team found that there were varying amounts of SEAP in the bloodstream of the mice depending on the mental state of the test subject.

“In all of these three mental states we saw very specific brain activities and these were translated via the LED to very specific illumination of the designer cells. In response those (genes) produced proteins that were then circulating in the animal,” said Fussenegger.

The system has been proven to function efficiently and effectively in the human-mouse and human-cell culture systems. Hence, Fussenegger hopes that a thought-controlled implant could one day help to combat neurological diseases, such as chronic headaches, back pain and epilepsy by detecting specific brainwaves at an early stage and triggering and controlling the creation of certain agents in the implant at exactly the right time.

Mind-controlled transgene expression by a wireless-powered optogenetic designer cell implant

By Rebecca Dey