A new chip device called Tissue Nano-transfection (TNT) can generate any cell type of interest for treatment within the patient’s own body. This technology may be used to repair injured tissue or restore function of aging tissue including organs, blood vessels, and nerve cells. TNT can switch cell function to rescue failing body functions with a single touch by injecting genetic code into skin cells, turning those skin cells into other types of cells required for treating diseased conditions.
In a series of lab tests, researchers applied the TNT chip to the injured legs of mice that vascular scans showed had little to no blood flow. Within one week, active blood vessels appeared in the injured leg, and by the third week, the leg was saved using no other form of treatment. This technology was also shown to reprogram skin cells in the live body into nerve cells that were injected into brain-injured mice to help them recover from stroke. Just a few weeks after having a stroke, brain function was restored.
The nanotechnology-based chip, containing specific genetic code or certain proteins, is placed on the skin, and a small electrical current creates channels in the tissue. The DNA or RNA is injected into those channels where it takes root and begins to reprogram the cells. This process takes less than a second and is non-invasive. The chip does not stay with the patient, and the reprogramming of the cell begins. The technique keeps the cells in the body under immune surveillance, so immune suppression is not necessary.
TNT does not require any laboratory-based procedures, and may be implemented at the point of care. The genetic “cargo” is delivered by activating the device with a small electrical charge that is barely felt by the patient.
The device works not only on the skin, but on any type of tissue. The technique uses a patient’s own cells and does not rely on medication.
For more information, contact Eileen Scahill at