In the future, people will have the pharmacy implanted in their bodies. A small device will be implanted in the body, containing engineered cells that are capable of producing drugs from within the body, lasting up to several weeks.
Currently, this device has been successfully tested on guinea pigs in the laboratory and could revolutionize the way chronic pathologies are treated, thus eliminating the way of taking medication as we know it today. The device was created by a group of scientists from several American universities in collaboration and the research work and results have been published in the journal Device.
The device is called Hobbit, and it contains an oxygen-producing system with a mini-generator, genetically modified cells, a battery, and microscopic electrical devices that regulate oxygen and communicate with devices outside the body via wireless.
In the tests, the device was implanted under the skin of guinea pigs. The researchers tried to instruct the modified cells to produce three different types of molecules. The tests lasted 30 days, the levels of the drugs in the blood remained at stable and high levels, and 65% of the cells remained vital.