Robotic white blood cells deliver drugs directly to cancer cells

Max Planck Institute bioengineers have built microparticle drug-delivering artificial white blood cells.  “The robots are essentially glass microparticles, less than eight micrometers wide. One half is coated in a thin film of nickel and gold, while the other carries the drug payload. In this test, the payload was anti-cancer molecules as well as antibodies that recognize cancer cells. Rather than swimming through the blood like other micro-robots, the new ones move by rolling along the walls of blood vessels, much like white blood cells do. The direction of this movement can be controlled from outside the body by way of a magnetic field. When switched on, the metal-coated side pulls the spheres in that direction.”  MORE

Image Credit:  Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems