Nanorobots
| Researchers at the South Korea's Chonnam National University have developed a first-of-its-kind nanorobot that can detect and treat cancer from inside the body. |
South Korean scientists has developed the world's first nanorobot that can detect and help treat cancer, according to government officials.
The team from the Chonnam National University used genetically modified bacteria to detect unique substances or proteins, such as the vascular endothelial growth factor, that are produced in excessive amounts when cancer cells are present, according to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, which partly funded the research.
"The importance of this research lies in the development of a new medical nanorobot and an active drug delivery carrier that can overcome the limits of conventional methods to diagnose and treat cancer," said study co-author Jong-Oh Park. "Our future plan is to develop medical microrobots or nanorobots capable of diagnosing and treating a lot of hard-to-treat illnesses through the convergence of medicine and engineering in our research."
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"This research offers a new paradigm of overcoming previously limited ways to diagnose and treat cancer with a nanorobot that can actively move and even deliver anticancer drugs specifically to cancer cells," the ministry said in a press release.
"This is the world's first nanorobot for active medical treatment."
Lab tests have shown the nanorobot can detect only solid cancer, such as breast or colorectal cancer, but its developers said it can be further advanced to detect and treat various types of cancer in earlier stages.
The research, titled, "A new paradigm for tumor theranostic methodology using a bacteria-based microrobot," has been published in the latest edition of Scientific Reports, an online journal published by the Nature Publishing Group.
SOURCE CNET Australia
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