Gas vesicles are protein shells that reflect soundwaves. They were first discovered in lake-dwelling microbes in Germany but now enable scientists to “hear” individual cells within the body.
Recent subscriber to Asimov Press and really a joy to see this article, as my Ph.D. thesis was on gas vesicles (early 1970s). My only quibble is that the article did little to recognize the seminal work of Tony Walsby, whose scientific passion was to understand these structures, and constituted 100+ publications over a 40 year span of time.
Thanks for this comment, Allan. Niko here. You're certainly right that I could (should?) have mentioned Tony's work. Earlier drafts were quite bloated, and I wanted to get to Shapiro and the engineering work as quickly as possible, so I left out people in the historical section who certainly merit a mention. Thanks for reading and for your contributions to this exciting field.
Excellent story. A comment on the last point about gas vesicle’s application in a cellular therapy like CAR T cells. The 6 approved CAR T products all target blood cancers, where the tumor cells and engineered T cells are circulating in the blood stream and thus more easily collected. What has been significantly more elusive is CAR T products for solid tumors like breast cancer or lung cancer, where CAR T persistence in the tumor has proven a barrier. The environment of a solid tumor, particularly if it has metastasized, makes real time in vivo measurements incredibly challenging. Being able to measure how many cells reach the tumor, how long it takes them to, how long they persist, and where else outside the tumor they are persisting would be a major tool for this. It sounds like engineered gas vesicles for ultrasound imaging would enable this. Finding the right balance of gene engineering for their persistence and functionality to translate CAR T therapies to solid tumors is essential and something dozens of labs are investigating worldwide. Yet, as you mentioned, we struggle to even measure that in mice models, let alone people. This application of gas vesicles is so interesting to me and perhaps quite consequential. Excellent story and writing yet again, Niko!
Recent subscriber to Asimov Press and really a joy to see this article, as my Ph.D. thesis was on gas vesicles (early 1970s). My only quibble is that the article did little to recognize the seminal work of Tony Walsby, whose scientific passion was to understand these structures, and constituted 100+ publications over a 40 year span of time.
Thanks for this comment, Allan. Niko here. You're certainly right that I could (should?) have mentioned Tony's work. Earlier drafts were quite bloated, and I wanted to get to Shapiro and the engineering work as quickly as possible, so I left out people in the historical section who certainly merit a mention. Thanks for reading and for your contributions to this exciting field.
No worries! It has indeed become a fascinating field -- it is always stunning what human ingenuity can do with the raw materials in nature.
Excellent story. A comment on the last point about gas vesicle’s application in a cellular therapy like CAR T cells. The 6 approved CAR T products all target blood cancers, where the tumor cells and engineered T cells are circulating in the blood stream and thus more easily collected. What has been significantly more elusive is CAR T products for solid tumors like breast cancer or lung cancer, where CAR T persistence in the tumor has proven a barrier. The environment of a solid tumor, particularly if it has metastasized, makes real time in vivo measurements incredibly challenging. Being able to measure how many cells reach the tumor, how long it takes them to, how long they persist, and where else outside the tumor they are persisting would be a major tool for this. It sounds like engineered gas vesicles for ultrasound imaging would enable this. Finding the right balance of gene engineering for their persistence and functionality to translate CAR T therapies to solid tumors is essential and something dozens of labs are investigating worldwide. Yet, as you mentioned, we struggle to even measure that in mice models, let alone people. This application of gas vesicles is so interesting to me and perhaps quite consequential. Excellent story and writing yet again, Niko!