Stanford Researchers Introduce 'Bi-Fi' - The Biological 'Internet'

In a groundbreaking discovery, researchers at Stanford University have found a way to send "complex" and "powerful" cellular messages using the M13 virus.

Monica Ortiz, a doctoral candidate in bioengineering, and Drew Endy, PhD, an assistant professor of bioengineering have discovered Biological Internet, or "Bi-Fi," meaning cells engineered with the M13 virus have the ability to send complex DNA messages from cell to cell.

In the article published on Science Daily, the researchers say it is well-known that cells naturally use various mechanisms, including chemicals, to communicate, but such messaging can be limited to basic messages. For example, if a cell's network is based on sugar, then it is limited to sending the messages 'more sugar', 'less sugar,' or 'no sugar,'' Endy explained in the article.

Cells engineered with M13 can include any sort of genetic instruction: start growing, stop growing, come closer, swim away, produce insulin and so forth, Endy said. This is possible because the M13-based system is essentially a communication channel. It acts like a wireless Internet connection that enables cells to send or receive messages, but it does not care what secrets the transmitted messages contain.

Ortiz said this way, they have the ability to send their own messages within a specific microbial community.

"The ability to communicate 'arbitrary' messages is a fundamental leap -- from just a signal-and-response relationship to a true language of interaction," said Radhika Nagpal, professor of computer science at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. "Orchestrating the cooperation of cells to form artificial tissues, or even artificial organisms is just one possibility. This opens a door to new biological systems and solving problems that have no direct analog in nature."

Ortiz said with improvements, their cell-cell communication platform might someday allow more complex three-dimensional programming of cellular systems, including the regeneration of tissue or organs. This, she said could eventually lead to "biosynthetic factories" that could improve and garner new pharmaceuticals.