Scientists have engineered Nanomachines to kill cancer cells

Scientists have made a breakthrough with the development of ‘nanomachines’ that can kill cancerous cells.

The team headed by Dr. Youngdo Jeong from the Center for Advanced Biomolecular Recognition at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) has engineered molecules able to directly penetrate cancerous cells, destroying them.

These nanomachines can kill cancer cells really fast, attaching themselves to the surface of bacterial cells and drilling into the outer membrane within a couple of minutes.

As the molecules burrow their way into the cell, they repeatedly unfold and fold while inside, creating holes and killing cancer without using harmful medicines or drugs.

Dr. Jeong said these mini drills could be the new ‘alternative to overcome the side effects of existing chemotherapy.

She said: “The developed nanomachine was inspired by proteins that perform biological functions by changing their shape based on their environment.

“We propose a novel method of directly penetrating cancer cells to kill them via the mechanical movements of molecules attached to nanomachines without drugs.”

Source: Agencies scientists nanomachine cancer cells scientists nanomachine cancer cells

About KAIST

KAIST’s main campus is located in Daejeon, 160 km south of Seoul, the capital city of Korea where its College of Business is located. Daejeon, with a population of approximately 1.5 million, serves as a hub of science and innovation. More than 200 research institutes, including the R&D facilities from the public and private sectors, are located in Daedeok Science Town in Daejeon, which is referred to as Daedeok Innopolis. For more on Daejeon, www.daejeon.go.kr