How might music help diabetics produce insulin in the future? Fitness and health 22:30 | 15 November 2023

In a recent study published in the journal The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, scientists engineered cells to produce insulin in response to certain sound waves (Queen’s music). This system could one day replace insulin injections.

In insulin-free diabetes, blood sugar levels remain high, leading to fatigue, frequent urination, thirst, and blurred vision. If left untreated, this condition can cause organ damage and diabetic coma. Additionally, diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, lower extremity amputations, and blindness in adults, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Experts have learned to produce insulin. However, now the only effective way to get it into the body is direct injection. Typically, people with diabetes must therefore carry insulin with them.

Another way to solve the problem would be to insert the insulin-producing gene into human cells. However, it is very difficult to control when the cell starts producing. The truth is that this protein should only be produced in response to high blood sugar levels.

Martin Fussenegger, professor of bioengineering at ETH Zurich at the University of Basel, led the study, which uses a mechanosensitive ion channel as a remote control to signal cells to produce insulin in response to specific sound waves. Scientists have found that pop music and movie soundtracks with low male vocals best stimulate insulin production. Moreover, the cells were able to produce insulin within minutes of exposure to song.

Scientists then conducted an experiment on mice and found that listening to Queen’s “We Will Rock You” for 15 minutes once a day brought blood sugar levels to normal levels, as well as the amount of insulin in the blood.

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