Nanomachines engineered to drill into cancer cells killing them in just 60 seconds
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An international team, including bio-engineers from Durham University, have used motorised molecules driven by light to drill holes in the membranes of cancer cells – killing them.
The new technique could mean new therapeutic methods to bring medicines directly into the cells or allow doctors to target and kill specific cancer cells.
These new tiny spinning molecules would be driven by light and can spin so quickly that they are able to burrow their way through cell linings once they are activated.
The international team included bio-engineers working out of Durham University partnering with researchers from Rice and North Carolina State universities in the USA. In one test were able to demonstrate nanomachines taking between one and three minutes to break through the outer membrane of prostate cancer cell, killing it instantly.
""We are moving towards realising our ambition to be able to use light-activated nanomachines to target cancer cells such as those in breast tumours and skin melanomas, including those that are resistant to existing chemotherapy … Once developed, this approach could provide a potential step change in non-invasive cancer treatment and greatly improve survival rates and patient welfare globally. ""
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An international team, including bio-engineers from Durham University, have used motorised molecules driven by light to drill holes in the membranes of cancer cells – killing them.
The new technique could mean new therapeutic methods to bring medicines directly into the cells or allow doctors to target and kill specific cancer cells.
These new tiny spinning molecules would be driven by light and can spin so quickly that they are able to burrow their way through cell linings once they are activated.
The international team included bio-engineers working out of Durham University partnering with researchers from Rice and North Carolina State universities in the USA. In one test were able to demonstrate nanomachines taking between one and three minutes to break through the outer membrane of prostate cancer cell, killing it instantly.
""We are moving towards realising our ambition to be able to use light-activated nanomachines to target cancer cells such as those in breast tumours and skin melanomas, including those that are resistant to existing chemotherapy … Once developed, this approach could provide a potential step change in non-invasive cancer treatment and greatly improve survival rates and patient welfare globally. ""
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