South Korean researchers create cancer-devouring robot

By Park Sae-jin Posted : July 27, 2016, 11:25 Updated : July 27, 2016, 11:25

[Courtesy of Chonnam University]



A team of South Korean researchers from Chonnam University, led by professor Park Seok-ho created a microscopic robot capable of curing various cancers including breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, and colorectal cancer, the university announced Tuesday.

The robot is actually a macrophage with a diameter of 20㎛ (1/5 thickness of a hair). It is called a robot because unlike normal macrophages, it can be controlled by using nano-sized anticancer agents.

The macrophage is a type of white blood cell which is human body's first line of defense. It engulfs cell debris, cancer cells, microbes, and anything else that does not have proteins specific to healthy body cells.

In previous cancer treatments, it was hard for macrophages or anticancer agents to get to the center of tumors or cancerous cell growth due to irregular blood vessel growth in them. But the Chonnam University's team made it possible by leading the macrophages to where it's needed.

The research team used the characteristic of macrophages to hunt down the nano-sized anticancer agents. The researchers added a small amount of iron oxide (Fe2O3) into the agents, enabling it to move wherever the cancer cells are located in the body by using magnetic waves.

Once led to a right spot, the robot macrophages devour the anticancer agents, spreading the agent to the cancerous growth nearby. Also, the macrophages eat up the cancer cells.

Professor Park Seok-ho said: "According to our research results, in 24 hours of the robot injection, we found 45 percent decrease in the size of colorectal cancer cells, 40 percent in breast cancer cells."

Aju News Park Sae-jin = swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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