A technique thought to be a promising cancer treatment is also being investigated as the basis for a Taser-like weapon that stuns for longer, New Scientist has learned.The technology involves short, nanosecond-long pulses of extreme voltage.Microsecond pulses have been used for years to punch temporary holes in cell membranes, to shove genes or drugs into cells. But the nanosecond pulses have similar effects on individual organelles inside a cell, such as the nucleus.For reasons as yet unknown, this can cause a cell to destroy itself in a process known as apoptosis, something being investigated as a cancer treatment. But the nanosecond pulses are also being researched as a way to temporarily disable human muscles.
Much research to date on nanosecond pulses has come from the Frank Reidy Research Centre for Bioelectrics at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, where some research is sponsored by the Pentagon's Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate (JNLWD) of Quantico, Virginia.Existing Tasers use multiple electric shocks of a few microseconds over a five-second cycle. The shocks are delivered to the body through twin electrodes fired in a dart. The pulsing electric field created inside the body disrupts the electrical activity of nerve cell membranes. These are responsible for carrying instructions and feedback around the body.
The effects wear off almost immediately, according to Taser spokesman Steve Tuttle, so that a suspect is incapacitated for just long enough to make an arrest.
Shocking Cancer by Weapon
