Lab made 'zombie' cells outperform their living counterparts

In a finding that looks straight out of sci-fi movies, scientists say they have created 'zombie cells' that continue to work even after they are dead.
Scientists say by coating organic cells in silicic acid they are able to withstand far greater temperatures and pressures than flesh.
Created by researchers at Sandia National Laboratories and the University of New Mexico (UNM) the process may simplify a wide variety of commercial fabrication processes from the nano- to macroscale.
The study, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), uses the nanoscopic organelles and other tiny components of mammalian cells as fragile templates on which to deposit silica.

The researchers then heat the cell to burn off its protein. The resultant hardened silica structures are faithful to the exterior and interior features of the formerly living cell, can survive greater pressures and temperatures than flesh ever could, and can perform some functions better than when they were alive, said lead researcher Bryan Kaehr.
"It's very challenging for researchers to build structures at the nanometer scale," said Kaehr in a statement.

"We can make particles and wires, but 3-D arbitrary structures haven't been achieved yet. With this technique, we don't need to build those structures - nature does it for us.

"We only need to find cells that possess the machinery we want and copy it using our technique. And, using chemistry or surface patterning, we can program a group of cells to form whatever shape seems desirable," said Kaehr.
"The process faithfully replicates features from the nanoscale to macroscale in a robust, three-dimensionally stable form that resists shrinkage even upon heating to over 500 degrees C. The refractoriness of these delicate structures is amazing," researcher Jeff Brinker added.
The unusual but simple procedure may serve as a model for creating hardier classes of nanoscopic products.
Because a cell is populated by a vast range of proteins, lipids and scaffolding, its interior is ready-made to model catalysts, funnels, absorbents and other useful nanomachinery, said Kaehr.

Catalysts that evolve in cells are enzymes that have to retain a certain shape for their chemistry to work. Since structure is important to function, stabilising a catalyst in the shape it evolved is important, Kaehr said.