A METHOD that would allow doctors to tweak the innards of cells without even touching a patient’s body is being developed in the US. The technique is still in its infancy, and it is still not clear exactly what it does to cells. But initial experiments suggest it might one day be possible to use the technique to treat cancer, speed up healing or even tackle obesity.
The method involves exposing cells to an extremely powerful electric field for very brief periods. “The effects of these pulses are fairly dramatic,” says Tom Vernier of the University of Southern California in…
