Wissenschaftler kombinieren Koffein mit CRISPR, dem Gen-Editing-Tool, indem sie in Tiermodellen künstlich hergestellte Nanokörper verwenden, die durch Koffein aktiviert werden können. Langfristig könnte es möglich sein, Zellen zu entwickeln, die es Menschen mit Diabetes ermöglichen, die Insulinproduktion einfach durch das Trinken einer Tasse Kaffee anzukurbeln.

Brewing possibilities: Using caffeine to edit gene expression

Texas A&M researchers are combining a common ingredient with high-level medical technology to find new treatments to long-term conditions.

What if a cup of coffee could help treat cancer? Researchers at the Texas A&M Health Institute of Biosciences and Technology believe it’s possible. **By combining caffeine with the use of CRISPR** — a gene-editing tool known as clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats — scientists are unlocking new treatments for long term diseases, like cancer and diabetes, using a strategy known as chemogenetics.

**When an engineered nanobody protein can be switched on by caffeine, it’s called a “caffebody.”** By harnessing the power of these caffebodies, Zhou says scientists may someday be able to treat a range of diseases. **In the long term, he believes it may be possible to engineer cells that allow people with diabetes to boost insulin production simply by drinking a cup of coffee.**

Beyond insulin, the technology can be adapted to control other important molecules, such as those that power T cells. In cancer therapy, for example, caffebodies could be built into T cells to give doctors chemogenetic control over when, where and how strongly the immune system attacks tumors.

In animal model lab studies, Zhou and his team have found that caffeine, as well as its metabolites­ — such as theobromine , which is abundantly available from chocolate or cocoa — could trigger the response and allows for editing with CRISPR. This form of treatment is accessible, easier to control and has fewer side effects than other treatments, he said.

For those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:

https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2025/sc/d5sc05703e