Welcome to the Electricity of Life,
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Here is some footage of a tadpole embryo
from Tufts University's Levin Lab for regenerative medicine.
Electrical gradients have been made visible
and we can see that they precede the development
features of the tadpole's face and body.
The relevance of electric frontiers in biology is no small matter.
Planaria regenerate their tail end into a second head.
Tadpole is bioelectrically modified to grow additional eyes, genetically altered,
so that a particular frequency of blue light
would stimulate ion regulators in their cell walls.
This allowed electric gradients in their body to be precisely changed
to match the electrical characteristics
that cue the body to grow all the tissues required for an eye.
This is the leading edge of knowledge in the science of how life forms on Earth.
Use electricity to shape or instruct the tissues of their body.
The significance of these bioelectric principles
can be understood from fellow scientists who have been amazed by their implications.
Some animals are known for the regeneration of whole appendages.
The scientists who come to take part in explorations at the Levin Lab,
use experiments and computer modeling
to learn what conditions are needed for natural regeneration.
Their experiments touch on several paths for future medicine
all informed by how a body's infrastructure of bioelectricity makes executive decisions.
Change the voltage exerted upon cell membranes
and you can modify genetic expression in the cell
so that a group of cells carry out a very different plan of growth.
Electrical managing forces inform cell development and response to injury
as a holistic system of physiological decision-making
integrated with the body's biochemical and genetic instructions.
A couple of years ago the Levin Lab showed the tumor type abnormal growth,
administered to developing tadpoles,
could be remissed with a 30% success rate
by way of changing cellular electrical behavior.
Back then, this was once again entailed by genetically altering the organisms
to have light-controllable cell membrane potential.
In the beginning of their abstract they noted,
"It has long been known that the resting potential of tumor cells
is depolarized relative to their normal counterparts."
Later on, the authors put forth that this bioelectric signature
could be used to locate tumorous cells
and it appears to be functionally required for tumors to form,
according to these experiments.
This year, dr. Michael Levin and his colleagues
have discovered a practical new means of readjusting electric gradients
that might soon become medicine.
Prozac, which is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor or SSRI,
was recently used to reform the electrical behavior of laboratory cancer cells
specifically administered to change voltage gradients.
The authors declared this work a successful proof-of-concept.
They said that existing and novel drugs could be used as an alternative
to highly toxic chemotherapy.
The authors of this study redefined cancer
as a network disorder affecting the ability of cells to properly interact
with a morphodynamic field of instructive signals
that keeps proliferation and migration orchestrated
towards the anatomical needs of the host organism.
In other words, a failure to communicate or regulate.
Thanks for watching this episode of the Electricity of Life.
Check out the other innovations and insights covered previously
and keep on the lookout for the next episode currently in the works.