Biomedical engineer Prof. Dr Damijan Miklavcic leads COST Action EP4Bio 2 Med – a network of researchers trying to develop the technique and its innovative applications in science and industry. He teaches electrical engineering at the University of Ljubljana, where he also heads up the laboratory of biocybernetics.
Why did you choose to study this technique?
Electroporation is an extremely interesting phenomenon, allowing DNA and other molecules to be injected into cells. The cell membrane – a barrier to drugs and DNA constructs – becomes more permeable, letting in a broad variety of molecules.
I was already a student when I first learnt about electroporation – I understood it as a powerful technique used in biomedicine and biomedical research. I realised how strong a method it was and believed in it from the very beginning.
A poster about an innovative use of electroporation caught my attention at the 1989 World Cancer Congress in Hamburg. It showed a new method developed at the Institute Gustave Roussy , on how electroporation could enhance the effectiveness of drug-based cancer therapy. At that time, I was already working in the field of experimental cancer treatment, looking into the possibilities of using electrical currents as a local treatment for tumours. I was particularly impressed with their presentation, which is why I went for a research career in developing medical devices for electrochemotherapy.
Why is interdisciplinarity so important when dealing with electroporation-based applications?
I have been interacting with people coming from diverse backgrounds (medicine, biology, and engineering) from the very beginning of my career. I also started to collaborate with the Institute of Oncology, Ljubljana almost 25 years ago when I first discovered the great potential of the basic mechanism of electroporation. I am convinced that the interdisciplinary approach is the only way we can tackle present and future challenges. When I started exploring electrochemotherapy for treating cancer tumours, most experts working in the field were biologists, oncologists and pharmacologists. There were almost no engineers and, therefore, not enough knowledge on electric field distribution. I felt it was the perfect time to jump in, get involved and analyse this technique from an engineer’s point of view – ensuring safe, effective pulse generators and electrodes for clinical use.
What about this technology’s potential? How does it relate to people’s lives?
Apart from its use in cancer treatment, gene therapy, cell fusion and therapeutic DNA vaccination, I was pleasantly surprised by its use in other fields, such as food processing. It was in 2009, when I gave a lecture at the International Conference of Bio & Food Electrotechnologies that I witnessed the huge potential behind pulsed electric fields (PEF) – electroporation in food industry. I was invited there by Professor Eugene Vorobiev.
A real technology breakthrough in the food industry is the mild pasteurisation of liquid food and beverages, an alternative to traditional thermal pasteurisation. Products stay fresh for longer, which also means a longer shelf-life. Food products pasteurised using the PEF technology are fresher in flavour, more nutritious and richer in vitamins.
PEF technology is also applicable to solid products. As cell membranes become more permeable, the cell tissue is softer, leading to an improved extraction, improved cutting, easier peeling and other process and product improvements. The technology is already present in Europe, improving industrial processes such as pressing and drying, ensuring higher juice yields and better drying efficiency. For instance, PEF technology contributes to superior cut quality in potato processing. This reduces the amount of oil and water potatoes retain, leading to crunchier chips.
What convinced you to go for a COST network?
It was the need for interaction and cooperation, so that we would unite two seemingly different worlds – biomedicine and food processing. I was certain that a COST Action was the ideal platform to share ideas among different domains where electroporation is used, to optimise and further develop existing electroporation-based applications in biology, medicine, pharmacy and food industry.
What about the challenges in your research? How has networking helped you overcome them?
Despite the technology’s significant progress, we are still lacking a complete understanding of its complex mechanisms. Fortunately, the networking and capacity-building activities COST funded allowed various researchers from very diverse fields to collaborate. It is only now that we are starting to link theoretical efforts with experimental results in order to get a better picture of this powerful phenomenon. Only when we’ve fully understood electroporation technologies, can we think about ways how to use and optimise the process.
We’re looking at many challenges and ideas ahead. For instance, we would like to use electroporation as an ablation technique and efficient gene transfer. There are several groups of researchers part of EP4Bio 2 Med already working on tissue ablation, i.e. surgically removing a part of biological tissue. This minimally invasive method is meant to eventually replace current medical procedures, such as surgery in tumour treatment and radiofrequency ablation in cardiac tissue ablation. As for DNA vaccination, we need to strike the right balance between the cell damage and an efficient DNA transfer to target cells. In both food and medicine, tissues are extremely heterogeneous with respect to cell size, orientation and electric conductivity. We would like to achieve uniform electroporation of all cells – or at least most of them.
How did you manage to coordinate a 42-country research network? Are there any special dynamics?
We kicked off the Action by taking a very important decision, considering openness and inclusiveness – COST’s main features. We agreed to stay as open as possible and so the network saw collaborations with the entire research community across Europe and beyond. I am very proud that thanks to this COST Action, almost 600 researchers from 42 countries are now working together on electroporation.
This is why keeping track of all the Action’s activities and dynamics has always been challenging. Still, we established coordinated and cooperative interactions among the various research groups through effective communication channels and dissemination activities, e.g. the monthly newsletter and the COST Action web page. This is how we share important findings and workshop proceedings.
Another key factor has been our constant focus on organising as many training schools and short-term scientific missions as possible. We have so far had 62 international short-term scientific meetings, involving researchers from Near Neighbour Countries and International Partner Countries (e.g. Algeria, New Zealand) too. Building on the success our Electroporation-based Technologies and Treatments workshop has had over the past 10 years, we have started organising a similar COST-funded training school in the area of food processing and PEF technologies.
The Action has entered its final year and the 1st World Congress on Electroporation is probably its biggest achievement so far. What were the main topics?
Indeed, the Congress was a truly successful international event, the biggest gathering of our COST Action, attracting nearly 400 researchers from different disciplines and countries worldwide. The main aim was to connect biomedicine and food processing and to enable participants to interact, no matter their research background. We covered all areas of electroporation, ranging from basic to industrial and medical applications. Different companies had the chance to exhibit and present their innovative equipment. Besides electroporation-based medicine treatments, we also discovered advantages in biorefinery and food processing.
What were some of the most innovative scientific results presented there?
It is very difficult to choose, but in my opinion, the most innovative scientific results come from the food processing field. One of them was presented by the Dutch company IXL, called eCooking. They use electroporation to cook food within just a couple of minutes. It is a truly innovative way of cooking, which preserves food nutrients. This appliance has the potential to reduce food loss and waste. Another Swedish company, named OptiFreeze AB was invited to showcase the results of a novel technology using electroporation in combination with vacuum impregnation and trehalose to improve the freezing tolerance of fruits and vegetables. This could soon allow us to eat fresh strawberries – from the freezer – at any time of the year.
Young researchers also had the chance to develop their skills and expertise in electroporation-related areas through the Young Investigator Competition.
Where do you go from here?
We definitely want to keep this momentum and organise a second Congress in two years’ time. We’re also planning to keep the network sustainable by maintaining our communication channels. We are also looking at two new training schools, one on biomedical applications and the second one on Pulsed Electric Fields for food processing. There are also different papers in the pipeline, containing guidelines on reporting in electroporation. As for our COST Action results, they will soon be published in a handbook of electroporation-based technologies.
All in all, I am sure many of us will continue working together. I am very happy to say that we have made the best of this excellent opportunity.