>Previous studies have shown that cancer cells can use nanotubes like “tiny tentacles” to slurp up mitochondria from immune cells.<p>Biology is nuts.<p>Regarding messing with T-cells I wonder how evolution came up with the current number of mitochondria per cell. Usually with these things there's some kind of push and pull between the benefits of something and the drawbacks. Or sometimes it's just whatever works. I know mitochondria can have some negative impacts on cells sometimes by releasing the byproducts of metabolism (reactive oxygen species) or triggering programmed cell death.
> The team cultured BMSCs and T cells together, and after 48 hours found that up to a quarter of the T cells had gained extra mitochondria. The researchers dubbed these juiced up immune cells Mito+.<p>What an incredibly simple idea. Just scale it up.
Batteries == Mitochondira<p>So I wondered how one could increase the number of mitochondria and quickly found this nice piece from 2017 about promoting mitochondrial fission in mid-life (ok in fruit flys):<p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-00525-4" rel="nofollow">https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-00525-4</a><p>I'm pretty sure maintaining mitochondrial health will help a lot of health problems. They seem to come up every little while in regard to <i>many</i> different pathologies.
For people who want to learn biochemsistry and subsequently be in awe and the complexity and mechanisms, there's a great beginner book, The Machinery of Life. <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6601267-the-machinery-of-life" rel="nofollow">https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6601267-the-machinery-of...</a><p>I found my way there after an Alan Kay video -- OPSLA 1997 - The computer revolution hasnt happened yet: <a href="https://youtu.be/oKg1hTOQXoY?t=1787" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/oKg1hTOQXoY?t=1787</a><p>On the subject of awe, here's another from Kurszsegat - The Most Complex Language in the World: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYPFenJQciw" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYPFenJQciw</a>
> Intriguingly, Mito+ cells could multiply quickly and pass their extra mitochondria to the new cells.<p>Isn't that a risk of leukemia? One that could've killed the mice, but after more than the 60 days of the study?<p>But even 60+ days vs. 20 days is better, so...
Related, a seventh person has been "cured" (article quotes) of HIV/AIDS after a stem cell transplant:<p><a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/seventh-person-cured-of-hiv-after-stem-cell-transplant/" rel="nofollow">https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/seventh-person-cu...</a><p>The donor had 2 copies of the CCR5 gene, which resulted in HIV not being able to enter immune cells (like T cells) as efficiently, giving them time to fight it off.
Given the American penchant for productizing anything even vaguely health-related, I expect to soon see on supermarket shelves some sort of "Mitochondria Milkshake", jam-packed with mitochondria.
> Intriguingly, Mito+ cells could multiply quickly and pass their extra mitochondria to the new cells.<p>Is this accurate? I thought T cells can't multiply.