Flies’ hearts can be controlled with lasers, giving hope for pacemakers of the future

Applying it to humans would require genetic alterations and thinner bodies — but scientists hope that they can overcome those problems

The fruit flies behaviour was carefully monitored (Rex Features)

Scientists have successfully shot lasers through flies and manipulated their heartbeat, without causing any damage to the animal.

Researchers have successfully created genetically modified flies that can respond to light, allowing scientists to control their heartbeats from the outside. And they hope that the same techniques could eventually be used on humans, giving pacemakers that wouldn’t need the invasive surgery required to install them today.

At the moment, if a hearts’ beating needs to be controlled from the outside it is done with electrical stimulation — spoofing the pulses that are sent to the organ to make it beat even more than usual. But the new technique does the same thing without ever needing to actually go into the patient’s body.

At the moment, the technique wouldn’t work for humans. The genes of the patient have to be modified to add the light-responsive materials, and human bodies are much thicker and so the light wouldn’t be able to travel deep enough.

But scientists suggest that eventually they might be able to develop a different kind of light that could shoot through better, and could augment people’s cells with special proteins that allow them to respond in a similar way.

If scientists are able to develop those techniques, they could create pacemakers that never need to be installed, sitting outside the body and controlling the beating of their heart.