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Nanomachines crawl through mouse’s stomach to release antibiotics

Trojita

Trojita

Rapid Response Threadmaker
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2144050-tiny-robots-crawl-through-mouses-stomach-to-release-antibiotics/

Tiny robotic drug deliveries could soon be treating diseases inside your body. For the first time, micromotors – autonomous vehicles the width of a human hair – have cured bacterial infections in the stomachs of mice, using bubbles to power the transport of antibiotics.

“The movement itself improves the retention of antibiotics on the stomach lining where the bacteria are concentrated,” says Joseph Wang at the University of California San Diego, who led the research with Liangfang Zhang.

In mice with bacterial stomach infections, the team used the micromotors to administer a dose of antibiotics daily for five days. At the end of the treatment, they found their approach was more effective than regular doses of medicine.

The tiny vehicles consist of a spherical magnesium core coated with several different layers that offer protection, treatment, and the ability to stick to stomach walls. After they are swallowed, the magnesium cores react with gastric acid to produce a stream of hydrogen bubbles that propel the motors around. This process briefly reduces acidity in the stomach. The antibiotic layer of the micromotor is sensitive to the surrounding acidity, and when this is lowered, the antibiotics are released.
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Without this reduction, antibiotics and protein-based pharmaceuticals can be destroyed before they do any good. This mechanism means that drugs normally used to treat bacterial infections, such as ulcers, normally have to be taken alongside proton pump inhibitors that suppress gastric acid production. Long-term use of proton pump inhibitors can lead to some nasty side effects including headaches, diarrhea, fatigue and even anxiety or depression. So being able to use tiny vehicles instead is a big step forward.

After 24 hours, the stomach acid of the mice returned to normal levels, and as the micromotors are mostly made of biodegradable materials, they were dissolved by the stomach, leaving no harmful residues.
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This is really cool.

Micromotors are really interesting.

Here's one made of a sulphur atom, that you see in the middle, surrounded by a carbon atom on one end and a 4 carbon atom chain on the other side.

dn20863-1_300.jpg


A copper sheet is placed below it for conductivity. A needle, that is only a few atoms wide, is placed on top. When electricity is applied to the needle, it causes the molecule below to move like a propeller. The whole thing is only one nanometer wide.
 
S

Snowybreak

Member
Man, even though there's so much shit going on in the world, I'm so god damned happy to be living through another technological revolution.
 
Auto_aim1

Auto_aim1

MeisaMcCaffrey
Kojima is a visionary.

---

This is pretty cool. What about the immune reaction to these 'nanomachines' though?

Micromotors are mostly made of biodegradable materials, they were dissolved by the stomach, leaving no harmful residues.
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Oh okay, that's great!
 
K

Kickz

Member
Can we get them to attack cancer cells?
I cant believe we haven't found a better treatment yet than chemo
 
I

Instro

Member
AbsolutBro said:
Wait, what? When did they discover this?
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That's not new. Long term use of those drugs is not great for your body. Also causes poor absorption of minerals in your body, which can lead to stuff like hair loss, etc.

As for the OP, can we get the sooner? I've been dealing with a c.dif infection for a couple months now that they can't get rid of.
 
J

Just_myles

Member
Keym said:
Yeah okay but can they give me vampire powers
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Won't put it past them. You will see these in athletes first.

So many applications with this if it turns out that it does work on people. Miniaturization of things like motors and cameras and even cpu's will be huge implications for healthcare.

Thinking out loud one cool futuristic case would be able to identify cancer cells or any abnormalities. We already have insanely advanced image recognition. Only a matter of time... might even be in our lifetimes.

Human life will be interesting 50 years from now. Stay healthy gaf.
 
Auto_aim1

Auto_aim1

MeisaMcCaffrey
Xero said:
Did the first or second metal gear have anything to do with. Nano machines? I don't remember anything about them.
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No but after getting defeated in MG by Solid Snake, Big Boss was injected with Nanomachines by the Patriots or something like that. I don't want to go through this shit so I will just call Warren Spector a visionary instead.
 
S

Slaythe

Member
Just_myles said:
Won't put it past them. You will see these in athletes first.

So many applications with this if it turns out that it does work on people. Miniaturization of things like motors and cameras and even cpu's will be huge implications for healthcare.

Thinking out loud one cool futuristic case would be able to identify cancer cells or any abnormalities. We already have insanely advanced image recognition. Only a matter of time... might even be in our lifetimes.

Human life will be interesting 50 years from now. Stay healthy gaf.
Click to expand...

I mean, they already have study cases like this on rats.

You mean 25/30 years tops, if funding follows and there's no nuclear war / economy crash.
 
T

Toxi

Banned
Kickz said:
Can we get them to attack cancer cells?
I cant believe we haven't found a better treatment yet than chemo
Click to expand...
Antibiotics attack bacteria-specific features, such as the peptidoglycan cell wall. You don't have to worry about damaging the human cells because they lack those features.

Cancer cells are human cells. Their mechanisms are altered, but are also still present in some form in other cells. So you can't chemically attack them without collateral damage.
 
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