Microrobots deliver cancer medication to metastatic tumours

Developed by engineers at the University of California San Diego, the approach has shown promise in mice where it inhibited the growth and spread of tumours that had metastasised to the lungs. The findings are detailed in a paper published in Science Advances.

The microrobots, which combine biology and nanotechnology, are a joint effort between the labs of Joseph Wang and Liangfang Zhang, both professors in the Aiiso Yufeng Li Family Department of Chemical and Nano Engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering.

To create the microrobots, the researchers chemically attached drug-filled nanoparticles to the surface of green algae cells. The algae enable the nanoparticles to efficiently swim around in the lungs and deliver their therapeutic payload to tumours.

The nanoparticles are made of biodegradable polymer spheres, which are loaded with the chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin and coated with red blood cell membranes.

This coating protects the nanoparticles from the immune system, allowing them to stay in the lungs long enough to deliver their anti-tumour effects.