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Researchers use Nanorobots to
kill tumors in mice
The bots cut off the tumors’ blood
supply.
Our current methods of fighting malignant tumors are wildly
inadequate. Chemotherapy and radiation treatments, while sometimes
successful, come with massive side effects, mainly because every
other cell in the body is also getting bombarded with chemicals and
radiation even though the main targets are the tumor cells. Finding
a way to specifically target tumor cells while leaving healthy cells
alone is something that many researchers are working towards and a
new study out today demonstrates that nanorobots made out of DNA
could be an effective option.
The research team took DNA from a virus and turned it into a sort of
DNA sheet. That sheet was then loaded with an enzyme called thrombin
-- a chemical that can clot blood -- and the sheet was then rolled
into a tube, with the thrombin kept protected inside. To the ends of
that DNA tube, the researchers attached small bits of DNA that
specifically bind to a molecule found in tumor cells, and they
served as a kind of guide for the DNA nanorobots. The idea is that
once the nanorobots are introduced into an organism, they'll travel
around and when those guiding bits of DNA come into contact with
those tumor-associated molecules, they'll attach. Then, the DNA tube
will open up, exposing the thrombin within. That thrombin will then
clot the blood supply to the tumor, effectively cutting off its
nutrients and ultimately killing it.
To test their nanorobots, the researchers injected them into mice
infected with human breast cancer cells and human ovarian cancer
cells as well as mouse models of human melanoma and lung cancer. In
each case, the nanorobots extended the life of the mice and slowed
or reversed tumor growth. Further, in the case of the melanoma
model, the nanorobots appeared to be able to prevent the spread of
melanoma to the liver and with the lung cancer model, the lungs even
showed an ability to begin repairing themselves once the tumor
growth had slowed.
Of course, the ability to treat tumors would be moot if the
nanorobots themselves posed a risk to people. But the team showed
that the bots didn't clot blood outside of the tumors and they
didn't trigger any significant immune responses in either mice or
pigs.
While they're still experimental and haven't been tested in humans,
these nanorobots show a lot of promise for treating cancer. "Our
research shows that DNA-based nanocarriers have been shown to be an
effective and safe cancer therapy," Guangjun Nie, one of the
researchers on the project, said in a statement. "We are currently
working with a biotech firm to translate this revolutionary
technology into a viable anti-tumor therapeutic."
The research was published today in Nature Biotechnology.
www.engadget.com
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