Medical treatment with magnet
"Some day magnet could be used to move gene in our body serving for some medical treatment," announced a Swiss scientist.
According to an experiment on a sheep, magnet can attract nano oxide iron to gene. When moving magnet, gene will be followed.
However, Dr. Heinrich Hofmann from Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland , the author of this research, said that it is needed for more safe experiments before applying to human beings.
There have been some problems with genetic therapy so far. One of these is the lack of an effective, safe carrier for transferring treatment gene into cells. The current means of transferring is the viruses which can cause the mutation and badly affect to AND of cells.
Hofimann said iron ion could be safer than the viruses. "The iron ion is much dangerous than a virus," he said.
He added that it is more precise to control nano iron ions than virus as the ions can be collected at a fixed position by a bar of magnet.
In a latest experiment, Hofmann injected nano iron ions attached to a certain gene with blue radiation into joint of a sheep then gathered the gene into the right position. Cells of the sheep create protein which giving blue radiation off. This proves the experiment has been successful.
To the other applications, Hofmann used magnet and oxide iron to motivate the growth of bone cells.
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