---
title: "Newly-Invented “Zombie-Like Cells” Act Alive “Despite Being Dead”"
description: "Scientists developed \"zombie-like\" cells that are technically no longer active human cells — but their walls can still bind to potentially useful compounds."
date: "2019-05-10"
modified: "2019-05-10"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/zombie-cells-dead-drug-discovery"
categories:
  - "Health & Medicine"
tags:
  - "drug discovery"
  - "nanoparticles"
  - "the digest"
  - "zombie"
---

# Newly-Invented “Zombie-Like Cells” Act Alive “Despite Being Dead”

![Scientists developed "zombie-like" cells that are technically no longer active human cells — but their walls can still bind to potentially useful compounds.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/zombie-cells-dead-drug-discovery.png>)
*\<em\>Image: ErikaWittlieb/Shutterstock/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Zombie Cells

Scientists at the University of Alabama (UA) have figured out a bizarre technique to discover new natural compounds that could one day end up in new pharmaceuticals.

They developed human, "zombie-like" cells that are technically no longer alive — but with membranes that continue to bind to different potentially useful compounds in samples.

## Dead Alive

Their research [was published](<https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2019/NR/C9NR01292C#!divAbstract>) in the journal *Nanoscale* last month.

To create their zombie cells, scientists scooped out the innards of the cell using solvents. Then they wrapped the shell around magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles.

## Panning for Gold

That leaves the cells with one useful ability: its walls are still able to interact with active compounds — and fish out interesting compounds from hundreds found in a single natural sample. The team is hoping the technique could expedite the process of weeding through thousands of compounds in a natural product from weeks if not months to just a few days.

"We have the receptor in its natural environment behaving the way it normally behaves in a cell," said Lukasz Ciesla, assistant professor of biological sciences at UA who worked on the project, in a [statement](<https://phys.org/news/2019-05-quicken-drug-discovery-method-zombie-like.html>).

**READ MORE:** [Researchers quicken drug discovery method via zombie-like cells](<https://phys.org/news/2019-05-quicken-drug-discovery-method-zombie-like.html>) \[University of Alabama\]

**More on zombies:** [*“Zombie” Deer Disease Could Spread to Humans, Experts Warn*](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/zombie-deer-disease-spread-humans>)

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)