BCMaterials Fortnightly Seminar #87 David Gandía
DAVID GANDÍA
(BCMATERIALS)
Remotely controlled magnetotactic bacteria as biological microrobots
Magnetotactic bacteria are a group of bacteria that live in aquatic systems and swim along the Earth’s magnetic field lines thanks to the chain of magnetic nanoparticles (called magnetosomes) that they biomineralize in their interior, which acts as a magnetic sensor. In addition, these bacteria detect hypoxic regions where they prefer to survive. We want to take advantage of the magnetic and oxygen sensing of the magnetotactic bacteria in order to develop biological nanorobots capable of targeting and killing cancer cells in a controlled and highly efficient way, by releasing anticancer drugs and heat in the tumour area. The research includes the magnetic and structural characterization of magnetotactic bacteria, the study of their movement under applied magnetic fields and oxygen gradients in a microfluidic chip fabricated by photolithography, and the design and implementation of a workstation to monitor, guide, and heat up the bacteria, aimed at assessing the suitability of magnetotactic bacteria as potential cancer therapy agents.
Related news
Scientific and Participation Success for IMOH 2024 Conference
From 15 to 17 October, the BCMaterials headquarters hosted the second edition of the ‘IMOH 2024, 2nd International Meeting on Challenges and Opportunities for HiCANS’ congress, dedicated to neutron…Kick-off Meeting of the BIOntier European project
The kick-off meeting of the BIOntier project (BreakIng FrOntiers in sustainable and circular biocomposites with high performance for multi-sector applications) was held in mid-October in Heraklion (…New cover on Advanced Electronic Materials
A contribution from BCMaterials and colleagues “Printed Memristors: An Overview of Ink, Materials, Deposition Techniques, and Applications”, has been selected as cover of the Advanced Electronic…BCMaterials Launches the 'Materials for Society' Initiative
In October, BCMaterials laid the first stone of the ‘Materials for Society’ initiative. This scientific, cultural and social project aims to explore the involvement of science with the most diverse…