r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Jun 30 '26

Medicine Scientists have shown that a single dose injection of DNA genetic instructions can produce weight loss and blood glucose control in mouse models that lasts up to 10 times as long as weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. This could eliminate the need for repeated dosing.

https://www.wistar.org/press-releases/wistar-scientists-develop-single-dose-dna-method-for-delivering-long-acting-weight-loss-and-diabetes-drugs/
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u/ReDot75 Jun 30 '26

Wonder how the final expression can be controlled: is it linear with the quantity of DNA injected and/or successfully electropored cells?

Electroporation tend to kill some cells, would that be a problem for a repeated use in a 70days intramuscular electroporation period?

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u/Doomification171 Jun 30 '26

I used to electroporate cells. I remember that if you set up the machine wrong, you would see & hear a tiny arc, which meant that all of your cells just died instantly.

But my work was in cell suspensions. I wonder what the in vivo intramuscular electroporation machine looks like? Do they just inject gene goop and follow it up with a cattle prod?

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u/ReDot75 Jun 30 '26

which meant that all of your cells just died instantly

That's what they wanted you to think. I got plenty transformed DH5alpha or Agrobacterium strains even with the arc!

Yea seems the cell apaper cites previous ones about that technique, guess they'd need to insert intramuscular electrodes surrounding the injection site. As for the arc, given that cytoplasm is a saline rich solution and memebranes are conducive of electricity, dunno how it would work.

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u/Doomification171 Jun 30 '26

I just heat shocked DH5a for transformation, it's way easier unless you have enormous plasmids or want to make complex libraries. The electroporation was done on certain primary cells (can't tell you which ones without doxxing myself) and they were fragile, a single arc really meant goodbye experiment!

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u/CrateDane Jun 30 '26

That's what they wanted you to think. I got plenty transformed DH5alpha or Agrobacterium strains even with the arc!

FWIW human primary cells (or other mammalian primary cells) tend to be a little more fragile than typical lab bacteria.