SCIENTISTS have developed nanorobots with hidden "lethal weapons" that can kill cancer cells. The tiny machines stopped tumours from spreading without harming surrounding healthy tissue in a promising trial in mice. The researchers, from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden , hope the technology can be used to the same effect in humans.
Yang Wang, a researcher in the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, said: "We now need to investigate whether this works in more advanced cancer models that more closely resemble the real human disease. "We also need to find out what side effects the method has before it can be tested on humans." The scientists previously developed structures that can organise so-called death receptors on the surface of cells, leading to cell death.
These exhibited six peptides (amino acid chains) assembled in a hexagonal pattern. "This hexagonal nanopattern of peptides becomes a lethal weapon," lead author Professor Björn Högberg said. "If you were to administer it as a drug, it would indiscriminately start killing cells in the body, which would not be good.
"To get around this problem, we have hidden the weapon inside a nanostructure built from DNA." The art of building nanoscale structures using DNA is called 'DNA origami' and is something the team has been working on for years. Now, they have used the technique to create a ‘kill switch’ that is activated under the right conditions, sparing healthy cells.
"We have managed to hide the we.