Chinese scientists hope planting spinach protein in human cell could treat osteoarthritis
- Researchers from Zhejiang University transferred a part of the plant cell that turns light into energy into mice in the hope of treating the condition
- Tests produced ‘promising’ results that suggested the transplants boosted a process that helps to grow and repair cells in the body
A team of Chinese scientists have transplanted photosynthetic proteins from spinach into animal cells, potentially opening the door to technology that could delay the ageing process in cells.
The researchers from Zhejiang University in Hangzhou also said their tests showed “promising clinical potential” in treating degenerative diseases such as osteoarthritis.
They transferred from plant to mammalian cells a photosynthesis system that can enhance cell anabolism, a metabolic process that grows and repairs cells in the body.
Photosynthesis, which means “putting together through light”, is the process by which plants get energy from sunlight. A plant traps the sun’s energy with its leaves and uses it to make glucose from water and carbon dioxide.
“We constructed a completely natural photosynthesis system that can independently facilitate the supply of key energy and metabolic carriers in cells based on exposure to light,” the researchers wrote in a study published on Wednesday in the peer-reviewed journal Nature.
“Our therapeutic strategy for degenerative diseases is based on a natural photosynthetic system that can controllably enhance cell anabolism by independently providing key energy and metabolic carriers.”