Cells do things (or stop doing things) because of internal homeostatic (or other) regulatory mechanisms, or because of communication with the “outside” via receptor sites located on the cell membrane. To get cells to do what we want (produce more or less of a hormone, for instance, or simply to die as in the case of cancer cells) it would be nice to have a machine that you point at a patient, program a few dials and buttons, and then affect the receptor sites in that person’s cells.Well, the production model isn’t quite ready yet, but such a device now exists on both the drawing board and in preliminary experimental work. Continue reading They Found the Ultimate Switch →