So far they are like tiny needles (about three nanometers three billionths of a meter), but researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have managed introduce and move within living cells. This opens the door to a tool to interact with basic cellular structure from within both the studio and in the future, sorry. The work is published by Angewandte Chemie International Edition. The devices are formed by a magnetic mixture of gold and ruthenium, and moved from outside using ultrasound. Pictures taken with a microscope show its route.
In principle, they have moved to record what happens when nanoengines collide with cell organelles. "We have seen hitherto unknown mechanical responses," said Tom Mallouk, a professor at Pennsylvania State University. Cells are like tiny factories full of organelles and structures that are responsible for producing energy, process nutrients, eliminate waste, make proteins... In a first approximation, the tiny devices have been used as mixers to destroy everything in the membranes or drilling. Seems a little precise work, but just thinking that this could be used on a large scale to destroy cancer cells and a preview.
In fact, it has been in cultured HeLa lineage famous cervical adenocarcinoma (cervix) which have been tested. "This research is a demonstration that it is possible to use synthetic nanoengines to study cell biology in new ways. The could be used to treat cancer and other manipulating the cells from within diseases could make intracellular microsurgery and administer drugs noninvasively, "says Mallouk.
Work toward this phase consisted of several phases. The first was to build structures that naturally engulfed cell without killing it, fairly straightforward. But the problem was to move, because the first fuels used were toxic. The application of ultrasound has solved that problem. This they have achieved a precision that even allows you to move more of these structures within a cell.
Tags: cells, living, moving, Nanoengines