Episode 354 - Safer pacemakers and mini machines inside our cells

Our bodies are filled with molecular and cellular machines, pumping, spinning and moving. How do tiny single molecules pump sodium ions across a cell? What is the connection between a single molecule pump and cells producing electricity? How can a single molecule pump be more efficient than our modern ones? How do we make pacemakers safer? Overtime a pacemaker grows to become part of the heart fibre. How do we make pacemakers less likely to be overgrown and easier to replace? 

References: 

1. Tatsuya Iida, Yoshihiro Minagawa, Hiroshi Ueno, Fumihiro Kawai, Takeshi Murata, Ryota Iino. Single-molecule analysis reveals rotational substeps and chemo-mechanical coupling scheme of Enterococcus hirae V1-ATPase. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2019; 294 (45): 17017 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.RA119.008947
2. Francesco Robotti, Ita Sterner, Simone Bottan, Josep M. Monné Rodríguez, Giovanni Pellegrini, Tanja Schmidt, Volkmar Falk, Dimos Poulikakos, Aldo Ferrari, Christoph Starck. Microengineered biosynthesized cellulose as anti-fibrotic in vivo protection for cardiac implantable electronic devices. Biomaterials, 2020; 229: 119583 DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2019.119583