Stimulate insulin release with music
ETH researchers are developing a gene switch that triggers the release of insulin by designer cells when certain rock and pop songs are played.
The bodies of people who suffer from diabetes produce no or too little insulin. People with diabetes are therefore dependent on an external supply of the messenger substance via syringe or pump. Researchers led by Martin Fussenegger from the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering at ETH Zurich in Basel want to make life easier for these people and are looking for solutions to produce and administer insulin directly in the body.
To this end, the team is pursuing the idea of enclosing insulin-producing designer cells in capsules that can be implanted in the body. In order to be able to externally control when and how much of the messenger substance the cells release into the blood, the team has researched and applied various triggers in recent years: Light, temperature or electric fields.
Fussenegger and his colleagues have now developed another novel stimulation method: they use music to trigger the release of insulin by the cells within minutes. This works particularly well with "We will rock you", a worldwide hit by the British rock band Queen.
