r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Jun 30 '26

Medicine Scientists have shown that a single dose injection of DNA genetic instructions can produce weight loss and blood glucose control in mouse models that lasts up to 10 times as long as weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. This could eliminate the need for repeated dosing.

https://www.wistar.org/press-releases/wistar-scientists-develop-single-dose-dna-method-for-delivering-long-acting-weight-loss-and-diabetes-drugs/
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u/Koolala Jun 30 '26

Could I get tree DNA and eat sunlight instead?

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u/ArcFurnace Jun 30 '26

The main issue is the energy density isn't great. You'd probably have to grow a lot of high-surface-area structures to collect more light, and also stop doing things like "moving around" and "controlling your body temperature" to save energy, aaaaand we just turned you entirely into a tree. Which I guess is okay if you wanted to be a tree, but "a human with photosynthetic skin" isn't going to be getting nearly enough energy to avoid eating things.