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Spotlight December 2022: Fighting tumors with micro robots
When we, the DaNa team as operators of the website nanopartikel.info, write about nanobots, i.e. nanometre-sized machines, we point out that these machines belong to science fiction, may even remain a utopia – i.e. never realisable. On the significantly larger micro-scale, however, small machines are conceivable that could help in the therapy of diseases, e.g. cancer. Such an approach is now presented by S. Schürle from ETH Zurich, who is developing magnetically controllable microrobots. She is using naturally occurring bacteria that have a magnetic “core” and with the help of which they can be steered to the target as microrobots.
This approach is not entirely new in terms of the basic idea, but it is significantly improved by the Zurich working group because rotating magnetic fields are used to make the bacteria rotate. The impression is that the microrobots now work like micro-drilling machines and drill their way non-destructively between cells to get from blood vessels through the blood vessel wall to tumour cells. You can read about the results she has achieved and the new approaches S. Schürle is exploring on the ETH Zurich website and in the original publication cited there (Gwisai T, Mirkhani N, Christiansen MG, Nguyen TT, Ling V, Schuerle S: Magnetic torque-driven living microrobots for increased tumour infiltration, Science Robotics 26 October 2022, doi: https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.abo0665)
Weitere Spotlights
Spotlight January 2023: Special issue on Methods and Protocols in Nanotoxicology published
In the first Spotlight of the new year, we present a special issue on methods and protocols in nanotoxicology published in the journal Frontiers in Toxicology. There are still too few harmonized protocols accepted by the scientific community. To improve this situation, project activities are started and special issues of journals like this one are […]
Read moreSpotlight November 2023: Early Awareness and Action System for Advanced Materials (Early4AdMa)
Advanced materials hold immense potential to address global challenges such as environmental degradation, transformation of the energy sector, and development towards circularity. To harness their benefits while ensuring safety and sustainability, regulatory bodies, scientific communities, and industries have recognized the need for proactive approaches. The “Early4AdMa” system is a pre-regulatory risk governance tool for advanced […]
Read moreSpotlight April 2021: Nanomaterials and Fake News – a commentary based on an example
In February 2021, the article “The invisible killer lurking in our consumer products” appeared, describing nanoparticles as a greater danger than Corona [1]. “The use of nanomaterials” would be “unregulated” and “nanomaterials are so small that they cannot be determined once they are part of a product”. So what is the truth of these statements? […]
Read moreSpotlight October 2023: Improved hydrogen production through novel catalyst made of three metals
Hydrogen is one of the important energy carriers of the future when it comes to climate-relevant energy supply. For example, surplus electricity from wind turbines or solar plants can be converted into hydrogen, allowing the otherwise unused energy to be stored for longer periods. This hydrogen can be used to power trucks and buses for […]
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