Google is making human skin as part of research into 'wristband that can detect cancer'
Google is making human skin as part of research into
'wristband that can detect cancer'
Scientists needed to make fake arms for the experiments
in California
By Lizzie Dearden Saturday 31 January 2015
Google has been making synthetic human skin as part of
work to create a wristband that can detect cancer, impending heart attacks and
other diseases.
Scientists in the life sciences division of Google X
laboratories in California needed to create arms that were as realistic as
possible to test the technology.
Dr Andrew Conrad said the system, which is still in the
early stages of development, would detect cancer cells when they first appear
by using nanoparticles that “search” the body for disease.
It would theoretically allow diagnosis long before any
physical symptoms appear, enabling early intervention to reduce the fatality
rate of illnesses.
“We’re trying to change medicine from being episodic and
reactive, like going to the doctor saying ‘my arm hurts’, to being proactive
and preventative,” he told The Atlantic.
“We’re making good progress but the journey is long and
hard. So I think we will get there and I hope it’s years, not decades.”
The idea is to identify slight changes in the person's
biochemistry that could act as an early warning system.
Patients would swallow a pill containing nanoparticles
tailored to attach to markers for different conditions, such as cancerous cells
or chemical levels linked to disease.
Google believes it will be possible to make cells “light
up” so the magnetic wristband can detect them as they pass through the arm in
the bloodstream.
“We have (the nanoparticles) circulate around your whole
body looking for those cells and we collect them using a magnet and basically
ask them what they saw,” Dr Conrad explained.
When asked by the Atlantic whether people would be
comfortable to have their body constantly monitored, he replied: “It’s way
weirder to have cancer cells floating through your body that are constantly
trying to kill you.”
Because the system relies on the light emitted by cells,
researchers need to understand how light passes through skin and so have built
models of human arms.
The eerily realistic moulds have been made with a
combination of synthetic and real human skin, from donors, so they have the
“same autofluorescence and biochemical components of real arms”.
Google X is dedicated to investigating potentially
revolutionary innovations, although many ideas are discarded before being made
public.
Previous work has included research into
glucose-measuring contact lenses for patients with diabetes and a spoon to
counteract the tremors caused by Parkinson's disease.
Non-health related projects include Google Glass,
self-driving cars, delivery drones and internet balloons in the stratosphere.
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