Yeast-Powered Fuel Cell Feeds On Human Blood 250
holy_calamity writes "Canadian researchers have taken a sensible, if slightly creepy, step towards solving the problem of medical implant batteries running down. They've built a fuel cell powered by yeast that feed on the glucose in human blood. If this makes it into people, keeping your implants going will be as simple as eating a donut."
Waste (Score:5, Insightful)
This is the ideal solution. Running a device off of the human metabolism is an excellent way to ensure that it functions for the life of the patient. Which is extremely important as implants are often put into older patients who may not be healthy enough for future operations. (I imagine this was the thinking behind the nuclear-battery pacemakers powered by SR-90.)
What's funny is that my first reaction as I read the article was, "doesn't yeast produce wastes that are foreign and toxic to the human body?" And wouldn't you know it, the next section was entitled, "Waste problem". Guess they're reading my mind. :-P
I'm a bit concerned about this problem. Would this necessitate the installation of a shunt or some other extraction point for the waste? Seems like a fairly significant barrier to me. If you have to perform regular extractions (or worse, operations) is it really better than the current alternatives?
Re:Waste (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Waste (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Waste (Score:4, Funny)
Having a large portion of the human species operating at a low level of alcoholic intoxication would hardly be more damaging than what we already have ;)
SB
Re:Waste (Score:5, Informative)
After all, wasn't the majority of the world slightly buzzed in the 'dark ages' due to alcoholic beverages being some of the few things that could be safely drunk without having to worry about parasites and diseases?
The Roman army used to drink a mixture of vinegar and honey called Posca [wikipedia.org] to avoid problems with the local water.
Re:Waste (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Waste (Score:5, Insightful)
No. I'm not senile. Not yet, anyway ;)
Assuming we don't destroy our civilization first, eventually it's likely that a large portion - if not all - of the species will be 'infected' by biological nanomachinery. Think about it. If a large enough portion of the species gets nanobot implants, eventually they'll "infect" everyone. May be a good thing, maybe not...
I don't know if you've read Varley's book Steel Beach, but if not, it's a must read when it comes to science fiction that deals with this sort of thing. Points out a lot of the downsides as well - and it's also a great read, easily the best Heinlein book I've ever read that wasn't written by Heinlein. Better, even.
He points out that in order to survive massive amounts of pollution and disease, nanomachinery 'infecting' our bodies may be an absolute necessity for us to survive at all. I won't spoil the really nasty surprise that may await us if that happens... read the book :)
SB
Re:Waste (Score:2)
So, all they have to do then is develop a storage device for the alcohol by-product in the implant, that could then be used to power the unit if metabolism isn't up to the level necessary to fully power the device.
It could be the first Yeast/Alcohol Hybrid Implant, yeah!
Re:Waste (Score:2)
Re:Waste (Score:3, Funny)
"I'm noth drunkth offizer...hic!...I'vvve goth a pacemaker...hic!"
Re:Waste (Score:2)
and turn them into a cheese making yeast infection
Re:Waste (Score:5, Funny)
If you have to perform regular extractions (or worse, operations) is it really better than the current alternatives?
Nonsense. CADIE [slashdot.org] claims that this new technology is necessary to ensure that humans continue to have a purpose to exist past the first uprising--that alone should be merit to continue this research.
Re:Waste (Score:2)
Eventually CADIE will be shortened to "CC" and we'll all forget that the Invaders destroyed our civilization...
Ooops, sorry, wrong timeline. ;)
SB
Re:Waste (Score:3, Informative)
I'm a bit concerned about this problem. Would this necessitate the installation of a shunt or some other extraction point for the waste? Seems like a fairly significant barrier to me. If you have to perform regular extractions (or worse, operations) is it really better than the current alternatives?
Isn't the waste product of yeast alcohol? As long as the waste is a low amount, it sounds like this would have the same effect as drinking alcohol (which the body is quite capable of disposing of). If it's not a low amount... well, at least the patient dies happy!
Re:Waste (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Waste (Score:2)
s/the/a
There are plenty of other yeast waste products that depend on the fermentation conditions... including methanol (uh-oh!), various ketones and esters (also potenitally problematic), and, of course, CO2.
Too much CO2 in the blood would result in acidosis as the excess CO2 is oxidized (by H2O) into carbonic acid... and then there would be renal compensation for this, leading to a host of other problems.
The reason the acidosis factor is such a problem is that pacemaker users tend to have limited respiratory capacity (which causes respiratory acidosis) anyway... so this would complicate their health even further.
I'm not sure that the impact of the yeast on plasma acidity would be huge, but it's the first non-EtOH waste product complication that popped into my head... I'm sure there are others.
Re:Waste (Score:4, Interesting)
Shenanigans.
How would it get to your liver without getting into your blood first? Alcohol is absorbed into the blood stream even through the lining of your mouth and stomach, long before most nutrients can be actively absorbed by your intestines. The liver is connected to the GI tract for secretory purposes. All filtration and metabolism functions happen on the other side, through the blood.
Re:Waste (Score:2)
Only a matter of time until someone produces a biological symbiont that *absorbs* alcohol and renders it harmless before it can affect you...
SB
Re:Waste (Score:3, Funny)
An alcoholic "tape worm" if you will? I picture a micro-Bender drinking all of my beer inside my small intestine.
Re:Waste (Score:5, Informative)
Double Shenanigans. You clearly haven't heard of/ been taught the...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_pass_effect [wikipedia.org]
Things from your gut flow first to the liver before entering general circulation. This helps eliminate a lot of the crap you eat/drink on a regular basis.
The hepatic portal system == blood, but != general circulation (which is where your brain would be connected.. and where alcohol would be dangerous)
so it works like this:
alcohol in your face-> small intestine -> hepatic portal system -> liver metabolism-> general circulation -> brain -> posting stupid shit on slashdot -> sense of superiority
It just so happens that much of the alcohol you drink does make it to general circulation, as the livers ability to process alcohol tops out at around 14-15g/hour.. so a lot of the alcohol you consume does make it to general circulation. If you think an implantable object (under, say, 10cm) full of yeast could make 15g of alcohol in an hour, you are being silly. Also, with time, your body would compensate and ramp up its enzymes and eliminate the alcohol faster, i.e. functioning alcoholics who can drink a fifth a night and not wobble.
TLDR: first guy is wrong because the levels of alcohol produced by a couple yeast would not make you wasted all the time, second guy is wrong because your liver gets first pick at all the poisonous crap you eat before it reaches the parts of your bloodstream where your brain is.
Re:Waste (Score:2)
Keep in mind that the alcohol you drink goes through your liver first. Only a small portion of the alcohol you drink actually gets into your blood stream, so even a small amount produced by the yeast cells may be dangerous.
Um... how does the alcohol *get* to the liver? Do you think it jumps there directly from the intestines? ;-)
Alcohol enters the bloodstream, and then is detoxed by the liver.
Re:Waste (Score:2, Insightful)
Seriously though, while it seems to raise a red flag at least partway, couldn't the solution be to pair the yeast with something that produces waste is not toxic to the human system, or to use GM yeast with harmless byproducts?
Note IANA(Whatever-the-appropriate-letter-is)
Re:Waste (Score:2)
Note IANA(Whatever-the-appropriate-letter-is)
Bio-chemi-physio-yeastisist?
Re:Waste (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Waste (Score:5, Funny)
What's funny is that my first reaction as I read the article was, "doesn't yeast produce wastes that are foreign and toxic to the human body?" And wouldn't you know it, the next section was entitled, "Waste problem". Guess they're reading my mind. :-P
What I want to know: is there any chance that they could get the yeast to continually produce alcohol from the glucose in your blood? I want an implant that makes it so keeping me drunk will be as simple as eating a donut.
Yikes (Score:2)
Two generations from now, donuts and frosting and brownies - and PIE! - are going to be regulated for "21 and older" ;D
SB
Re:Yikes (Score:5, Funny)
Man comes staggering into Dunkin Doughnuts....
"For god's sake give me a crueller!"
Re:Waste (Score:2)
You can do this yourself right now, with no need for fancy-pants implants. Just drink enough badly filtered beer, and the yeast in the debris at the bottom will eventually colonize your intestines. Once they're in there, they'll ferment the simple sugars you eat, turning them into alcohol directly in your intestines.
Of course, this might kill you. But at least you'd die drunk.
Re:Waste (Score:5, Funny)
Leading to a new national chain of "Drunkin' Donuts"
Re:Waste (Score:2)
People will come up with many applications for this technology. Powered tracking chips for the kids could have much greater range than RFID...
I was a bit surprised to see this be real on April 1st. I was expecting something more along the lines of tech that makes the likes of Ted Stevens into biofuel. Phase II??
Re:Waste (Score:4, Interesting)
Another application: weight loss. An implant that lets donuts power your wearable computing devices instead of your gut? Sign me up.
Re:Waste (Score:2)
What's funny is that my first reaction as I read the article was, "doesn't yeast produce wastes that are foreign and toxic to the human body?" And wouldn't you know it, the next section was entitled, "Waste problem". Guess they're reading my mind. :-P
First they steal our glucose, then they start reading our minds, can there be any doubt that the next step for yeasts is to take over the world and enslave us all for their nefarious purposes? We must act quickly! Everyone buy up all the monistat you can!
Re:Waste (Score:2)
What's funny is that my first reaction as I read the article was, "doesn't yeast produce wastes that are foreign and toxic to the human body?" And wouldn't you know it, the next section was entitled, "Waste problem". Guess they're reading my mind. :-P
I hardly find the waste [wikipedia.org] that yeast produces when consuming glucose to be all that offensive...
(yeah, i know, there are byproducts other than tasty, tasty alcohol produced by fermentation...)
Re:Waste (Score:2)
But what if the person is a diabetic, or pre-diabetic, and consumes no non-organic sugars or wheat? There would be minimal sugar-yeast in their body.
Along the lines of a broader application, however, this tool could be used for broader applications - both health and otherwise. Yeast in the blood is, I believe, suspected to be contributory to various ill health symptoms, and pretty much anyone in the western world has a lot of it due to sugar intake. It'd be useful for diabetics and pre-diabetics simply to keep sugar levels down (ie if it eats yeast, it'll allow for yeast to grow more rapidly due to the disproportionate sugar/yeast ratio).
Finally, couldn't it be harnessed for other applications as well?
Re:Waste (Score:5, Informative)
But what if the person is a diabetic, or pre-diabetic, and consumes no non-organic sugars or wheat? There would be minimal sugar-yeast in their body.
Huh?
Are you saying that people who don't consume refined sugar or carbs don't have glucose in their bloodstream? Or that this invention would somehow rely on the body's supply of yeast to run?
We all have glucose in our blood, even diabetics. The issue for them is that the insulin system, which keeps blood glucose levels steady in spite of rapidly changing intake, isn't working properly... so they have to keep their intake of sugars and carbs low. There's still plenty of glucose.
The invention has its own yeast, it doesn't rely on the body's native yeasts.
Re:Waste (Score:2)
Maybe there could be some yeast-based implant to metabolize the yest-based toxins. I'm thinking some kind of Borg-esque kind of thing.
Additionally, achievements.
Re:Waste (Score:3, Interesting)
...it functions for the life of the patient... (Score:3, Funny)
"Running a device off of the human metabolism is an excellent way to ensure that it functions for the life of the patient."
Uh, all these devices function for the life of the patient, give or take a few minutes...
-- Terry
I hear they already have a name for it (Score:2)
iDrunk.
Ah, come one someone had to say it.
Re:I hear they already have a name for it (Score:2)
'Creepy?' (Score:2)
What's so creepy about that? Would you prefer implants to be nuclear powered?
Re:'Creepy?' (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes, actually. [lanl.gov] I'd much rather have a shielded alpha emitter in my chest than a biological organism leaking toxic wastes.
Re:'Creepy?' (Score:5, Funny)
Re:'Creepy?' (Score:2)
Can't the human body already metabolize most yeast byproducts?
The problem with nuclear power sources is that they have a minimum effective size. They wouldn't work for nanobots, assuming we ever figure out how to build cellular repair machinery that small. (Feynman pointed out once that there is no physical barrier to doing so - although the engineering is turning out to be hellishly difficult)
SB
Re:'Creepy?' (Score:2)
Hey now. (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Hey now. (Score:5, Informative)
Read the FA, especially linked journal summary, published back in December.
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/search/wrapper.jsp?arnumber=4671110 [ieee.org]
This isn't an April Fools joke.
This is brilliant. There's been a lot of scifi stories that hypothesized implants that run off of neural impulses; this isn't limited by the extremely small amounts of electricity that the nervous system generates.
Waste is definitely going to be a problem, but one that's likely solvable by engineering yeast that produce waste that can be metabolized and flushed out by the liver or kidneys.
This may also be an answer to the problem of powering nanomachines that repair the human body. I'm hardly an expert in the field, anyone who is (and is still here today) care to comment?
SB
Re:Hey now. (Score:5, Informative)
This isn't an April Fools joke.
That was the parent's point.
"We need to keep this site as useless as possible today. You're not helping."
"Legitimate news?" wasn't questioning the legitimacy of the article, it was questioning why there was legitimate news today.
Re:Hey now. (Score:2)
I did get the sarcasm. It was just a good place to insert my post and try to head off any potential idiots at the pass, so to speak ;)
SB
I couldn't help but think.... (Score:2)
When I read the headline, I conjured the disturbing mental image of stuffing bodies into the gas tank of my car.
Re:Hey now. (Score:2)
This is brilliant. There's been a lot of scifi stories that hypothesized implants that run off of neural impulses; this isn't limited by the extremely small amounts of electricity that the nervous system generates.
Well yes, when you think about it, it makes all the sense in the world. Our blood is in many ways a vehicle for carrying chemical fuel to "power" our bodies. So if you're going to implant something that needs to draw power, of course you'd want to see if you could draw power from that same source. So apparently yeast may be a decent mechanism for doing do.
Of course, it does make me wonder exactly how much power can be drawn, and whether it would reach some point where implanted devices would be competing with your own body for nutrients. In a way, it's like they're trying to build an artificial symbiotic parasite.
Re:Hey now. (Score:4, Insightful)
One can always introduce more nutrients into the body to compensate, if it becomes a problem.
Your point about artificial symbiotic parasites is right on target. I think that's more likely to be the path we take in repairing body damage - destroying cancers and fixing cellular damage - than nanomachines are.
SB
Re:Hey now. (Score:2)
No... this is an April Fool's joke.
This [physorg.com] isn't, though.
The pic in the article above bears a striking resemblance to a CPU w/ IHS in one of those hard plastic CPU holders.
If its not april Fools (Score:5, Interesting)
This kind of takes a yeast infection to a whole new level, the original kind is already hard enough to get rid of, and its not systemic. Fungal infections inside the body are very hard to treat because fungi cells are so similar to animal cells and its hard to kill one without harming the other.
I guess its time for the obligatory "I for one welcome our vampiric mono-cellular overlords."
Re:If its not april Fools (Score:3, Informative)
Re:If its not april Fools (Score:3, Informative)
Sounds like they're taking a non-pathogen and turning it into something that can survive and reproduce in the body. Whether or not it thrives once it gets there remains to be seen. It might not put out enough waste that its immediately noticable, but what happens if this gets loose in someone with a weak immune system? They might ferment to death.
Re:If its not april Fools (Score:2, Insightful)
It might not put out enough waste that its immediately noticable, but what happens if this gets loose in someone with a weak immune system?
I'm pretty sure anyone who has one of these things is probably going to get routine checkups from their physician to make sure the device is functioning alright. It's not as if they are just going to stick this in you and then just forget about it.
They might ferment to death.
No, they wouldn't. The amount of glucose a yeast cell consumes is extremely small and the amount of ethanol produced is as well (and would be metabolized faster than it could build up). We'd have to be talking about many magnitudes more yeast cells than are going to be in this battery to survive in your body for quite some time to actually have any detrimental effect.
Re:If its not april Fools (Score:2)
We'd have to be talking about many magnitudes more yeast cells than are going to be in this battery to survive in your body for quite some time to actually have any detrimental effect.
Which could be the result of a systemic infection that would go undetected due to the small amount of waste produced by the yeast up until the point that the boiling frog dies. But once it is in the blood stream, the difficulties in treating a fungal infection return. (I.E. its very hard to do without significant harm to the host).
I know that they're not going to implant these and dump the patients in the street, but anybody who has set a cup of warm water with some yeast and sugar on the counter for 10 minutes will see the power of exponential reproduction. The results would be similar to an antibiotic resistant bacterial infection, and by the time the bacteria reaches your blood stream, it can go really bad overnight.
Re:If its not april Fools (Score:3, Interesting)
Aren't yeast cells relatively large, as well? Since glucose molecules are pretty small, I'd imagine it'd be fairly easy to build a filter to keep the yeast out of the bloodstream.
SB
Re:If its not april Fools (Score:2)
Yea, but yeast molecules and...Huh. Nvrmind, I just edjumucated myself. (I thought that blood cells played a role in transporting glucose like they do oxygen, which is apparently not the case).
Yeast is about the same size as a red blood cell (~6 micrometers, though some yeasts are as big as 10micrometers) which should be substantially bigger than a mere simple sugar.
Re:If its not april Fools (Score:2)
Re:If its not april Fools (Score:2)
People already have yeast in their body, particularly if they have a high sugar intake (ie any westerner). There's yeast everywhere; what makes the inside of your body different?
Granted, it's not the kind of yeast you can make bread with (easily). But it's still there, feeding on sugars.
Re:If its not april Fools (Score:2)
There are plenty of bacteria in your intestines that would kill you if they crossed over to the bloodstream, so safely contained pathogens aren't as good of an analog as something that lives and exists in other systems that aren't as isolated.
While this won't be plague worthy (its blood borne without a way to jump from person to person), on an individual level, it could be like injecting a pathogen into a person with no evolutionary or genetic protection from it.
Diabetes Management (Score:5, Interesting)
If this were used to power a glucose meter and microprocessor, and throttled appropriately, could it be used to manage blood sugar for diabetics?
Re:Diabetes Management (Score:3, Insightful)
I don't know about managing blood sugar - that's pretty complicated - but one could certainly build an implantable glucose monitor using this technology.
Yeast are thriving? Glucose levels are high. Dying? Low...
SB
Re:Diabetes Management (Score:5, Funny)
If this were used to power a glucose meter and microprocessor, and throttled appropriately, could it be used to manage blood sugar for diabetics?
Until the yeast gets smart enough to figure out that it can fudge the results to feed itself.
!aprilfools ?? (Score:2)
This article is the most believable of any of the articles today... I wonder if it's true?
Geez, I'm probably the fool...
Re:!aprilfools ?? (Score:2)
It references a paper published in December, so like the autism article, I'd assume it's either serious, or a prank with a lot of build-up.
Re:!aprilfools ?? (Score:2)
Re:!aprilfools ?? (Score:2)
# why can't i write only 6 characters in a comment?
Re:!aprilfools ?? (Score:2)
Awesome idea, but.. (Score:4, Insightful)
What happens when you get a yeast infection and need to take anti-fungals? Are these yeast going to be fungicide resistant, or are you going to have to replace the implant?
Unless you could make the container impermeable to fungicides but permeable to everything the yeast need. Might not be possible depending on the fungicide.
Re:Awesome idea, but.. (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Awesome idea, but.. (Score:3, Interesting)
And I thought bats were a problem, (Score:3, Funny)
now we may have to worry about vampire cars and vampire houses too?
If people can use this descovery to power other things, you might need to walk around in a full suit of armor to keep your blood to your self.
Could we generate power... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Could we generate power... (Score:2)
Cybernetic Implants (Score:4, Interesting)
Besides the importance of creating pacemakers without batteries that have to be surgically removed, doesn't this edge us closer to electronics built into humans.
Most likely it will have to low power ARM processor related, but imaging if you could have a blue tooth cochlear implant, built in throat mike, and SSD storage built in to your own being.
You could be tethered to your energy consuming 3g device and have conversations without a head set (aka Ghost in the shell).
Of course if they can figure a way for you to have conversations without actually talking so you don't look crazy...
Two Possibilities (Score:2, Funny)
Runaway Yeast Infection = Spontaneous Human Combustion?
Or
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=coppertop [urbandictionary.com]
Useful! (Score:2)
How long until someone has a power source embedded in their arm? A person could plug in their laptop and run it indefinitely, while losing weight at the same time.
Re:Useful! (Score:2)
Why not trickle this energy you are generating into battery cells that work to power your home in tangent with a solar panel array? hmmm...
It's all fun and games till someone turns on a hair dryer and throws the breaker. Or your house gets struck by lightning with YOU plugged in. ;)
yeah right.... (Score:3, Funny)
Eliminating waste products is easy (Score:5, Interesting)
TFA didn't really phrase the paragraph about waste elimination too well.
It's not so much that "leaching out of harmful substances into the bloodstream" is a problem. The real issue is devising a process for the yeasts that produces only normal metabolic waste. Given that, waste elimination is really easy, since the body has terrific mechanisms for locking up toxins and circulatory systems for eliminating them.
Suspicious funding.... (Score:2)
Was this research funded by the estate of Bela Lugosi?
Re:Suspicious funding.... (Score:2)
You might call it the Transylvanian Connection.
Names. (Score:2)
Can there be any doubt... (Score:3, Funny)
...the science fiction/teen slasher movie that's bound to come out of this will have the words "mutant" and "beer" in the title?
Anyone having a Strange Brew flashback? (Score:5, Funny)
Doug McKenzie: I am your father, Luke. Give in to the dark side of the force, you knob.
Bob McKenzie: He saw Jedi 17 times, eh.
Doug McKenzie: Hey I just thought of something, what if we could harness the power of the force from the beer yeast that would feed on human blood? Somekinda Vampire beer power, eh?
Bob McKenzie: Take off, eh!
A dream come true... (Score:3, Funny)
Sure, RIGHT. (Score:4, Insightful)
You know, Slashdot could've gone the way of Wikipedia, which has a bunch of crazy entries on the front page which are actually truthful in some way (albeit usually misleading in a humorous way). Instead we get the usual "HUR HUR MICROSOFT RELEASES CP/M 9.2" bullshit.
Oh, wait, what? This one is serious? Nah, can't be. I mean, you've cried wolf how often?
Why does ANYONE post stories on April 1st??? (Score:3, Insightful)
I can't take ANY story seriously today! I have been bitten too many times to believe ANYTHING posted today! ;^)
Happy April Fools Day to everyone!
Wow. Synergy. (Score:2)
Canadians? (Score:2)
I vant to suck your blood, eh!
Extremely low performance, for now. (Score:5, Interesting)
I do micro fuel cells, and part of my research is bio-fuel cells - similar to the one in the article. While this is valuable research, you shouldn't get too excited, yet: it's not the only device of its kind, and the performance is not even nearly sufficient, for now, for any application. It's a proof of concept, and sometimes (non-reproduceable) with better than meager power density. But, I do believe that the future of implantable fuel cells is bright. It even may be that we won't need enzymes (or bacteria) at all, which would be perfect. Some metallizations and stable inorganic compounds might do the trick using blood plasma without any added bio-active catalyst.
Wait a minute (Score:2)
Anyone seen the blob...looks like alot of yeast,
I just wonder if there is a set limit to reproduction of this yeast in the body?
Jed> Don't poke him Vern, you'll make him explode
Vern> Whaa?
Pop!
In other news A.I. research nearing a breakthrough (Score:2, Insightful)
Making machines able to survive on human blood. That's ingenious! What could possibly go wrong?
Gray goo (Score:3, Insightful)
Introducing blood-eating yeast into a person's pacemaker? What's the worst that could happen?
Oh yeah. Gray goo. I hope they've engineered in a lysine deficiency.
Re:Wait, is this a serious story? (Score:2)
Damn, are we that desperate today? WORK?!
Yeah, maybe...
Re:Wait, is this a serious story? (Score:2)
Re:The blood car is finally here (Score:2)
Kinda creepy, too. We now have a real equivalent. Cars won't be powered off of it, but I can see plenty of ambivalence towards something that "sucks your life energy out."