> a genetic cocktail that rapidly converts skin cells into endothelial cells
> The transformed cells also appeared to secrete reprogramming materials in extracellular vesicles (EVs) that targeted deeper tissue. Injecting mice with EVs harvested from the skin of other treated mice was as effective as using the chip itself.
My question here is what are the side effects? It seems like something like this would already happen naturally if there were no significant trade offs
Evolution doesn't optimize for benefits to the individual. If it did, we'd all regenerate like salamanders.
That any sort of cell therapy or signaling change works at all to improve health is indicative that the standard issue biochemistry in mammals is suboptimal.
The risk from this sort of thing, like all efforts to change cell behavior towards greater tissue maintenance, is cancer. One of the most interesting aspects of the whole field of regenerative medicine is the degree to which cancer hasn't emerged, however. There seems to be considerable leeway for crude methods to improve regeneration to work without large increases in cancer risk.
Two things that come to mind are speed and energy. I can imagine perfect-but-slow, perfect-but-expensive, or perfect-but-exhausting healing being selected against and good-enough-for-reproductive-business-and-fast-and-restful being selected for.
You could say that about computers... Testris would happen naturally if there were no significant trade offs.
Evolution tends to optimize, but it also gets stuck in local maxima because of its slow linear nature. We should eventually be able to provide vastly superior biological constructs and fixes - once we become proficient at reprogramming at a DNA/RNA level.
The typical complication in related therapies almost always seems to include the potential for uncontrolled proliferation of the cells, either at the site, or as metastatic cancer.
>It seems like something like this would already happen naturally
it is naturally happening right now as humans with their tech is just a tool of Nature - following George Carlin logic of "planet [Earth]'s goal was plastic packets, so it produced humans who produced the packets, now humans can go" :)
> The transformed cells also appeared to secrete reprogramming materials in extracellular vesicles (EVs) that targeted deeper tissue. Injecting mice with EVs harvested from the skin of other treated mice was as effective as using the chip itself.
So... the "genetic cocktail" acts like a virus?