By Cliff Edwards

                 ASSOCIATED PRESS

 

                 February 25, 2000

 

                 SAN FRANCISCO -- Don't look for the Six Million Dollar Man just yet, but

                 researchers have found a way to mate human cells with circuitry into a "bionic

                 chip" that could advance genetic engineering or lead to new cures for

                 diseases.

 

                 The tiny device -- smaller and thinner than a strand of hair -- combines a

                 healthy human cell with an electronic circuitry chip. By controlling the chip

                 with a computer, scientists can control the activity of the cell.

 

                 The computer sends electrical impulses to the cell-chip, triggering the cell's

                 membrane pores to open, and activating the cell. Scientists hope they can

                 manufacture these easily controlled cell-chips in large numbers and insert them

                 into the body to replace or correct diseased tissues.

 

                 The cell-chip also gives them greater control over the difficult process of gene

                 therapy because they can more precisely open the cell's pores, said lead

                 researcher Boris Rubinsky.

 

                 "We've brought engineering essentially into the field of biology," said

                 Rubinsky, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of

                 California, Berkeley, which funded his research. "We can introduce DNA,

                 extract proteins, adminster medicines -- all without bothering other cells that

                 might be around."

 

                 The cell-chip, profiled today in the March issue of the journal Biomedical

                 Microdevices, rests on a long-known phenomenon: Cell membranes become

                 permeable when exposed to certain voltages.

 

                 Scientists for years have been conducting genetic research in a

                 time-consuming trial-and-error process of bombarding cells with electricity in

                 an attempt to introduce foreign substances such as new drug treatments or

                 genetic material.

 

                 Researchers hope eventually they can develop cell-chips tuned for the precise

                 voltage needed to activate different bodily tissues, from muscle to bone to

                 brain. That way, cell-chips could be applied by the thousands to correct a

                 variety of health problems.

 

                 "In the past, any electricity applied to the cell was like hitting it with a hammer

                 in the hopes that something would happen, or it would open for us. Now, we

                 know just how to make it work," Rubinsky said.

 

                 Mauro Ferrari, director of the Biomedical Engineering Center at the

                 University of Ohio, called Rubinsky's invention a "potentially useful laboratory

                 tool in the early stages of development."

 

                 "The method for opening cells has been around a long time, but this makes it

                 more exact and easier to do in large throws," Ferrari said.

 

                 "It seems to me that we have a ways to go before you'd see a bionic man," he

                 said, but the ability to program cells quickly could accelerate genetic research.

 

                 Rubinsky said the university had applied for a patent on the process and was

                 working with outside parties to develop commercially licensed biotechnology

                 applications.

 

                 Ferrari cautioned that large-scale manufacturing of such devices could lead to

                 potential snags not foreseen in the lab environment.