Nanobot implant into cockroach body, testing tumor treatment

A group of scientists at the Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials at the University of Bar-Ilan (Israel) is working on creating micro-robots that can react with chemical and activity stimuli. in animal bodies live like a real computer.

This allows nanobots - robots that are only about one-billionth of a meter - to follow special instructions and do everything from identifying tumors to treating lesions in tissues.

Scientists used a technology called DNA origami to build these robots. DNA is in the form of double helix, and these chains can be joined together to create different shapes.

In this case, the scientists connected the DNA into a sealed, box-like form, creating a robot called E (short for Effector) . The 'lid' of this box opens when a certain amount of molecules hits it.

These robot boxes were then introduced into the cockroach's body called Blaberus discoidalis , a species often used as food for domestic reptiles. In each box contains a chemical capable of recognizing the hemolymph - the white blood cell of the cockroach . The chemical in the box will be attached to the blood cells.

However, instead of just putting one type of robot into the cockroach body, scientists used four "E," "P1," P2, " and " N. "types. Three types of robots mentioned in the back carry the 'key' type to 'open the box' robot E when there is the presence of one or more chemical stimuli.

For example, robot E only reacts when there are two chemical stimuli, X and Y, adding a robot P1 that will cause the E robot to react only to X stimulation, while adding a P2 robot will cause the E robot. only reacts to Y stimulation. Meanwhile, the N robot will prevent the bottom of the E robot from opening. Together, these robots will perform logical operations, such as counting the number of times a chemical excites a robot.

In addition, this study also for the first time refers to the specific mechanism of logic in living animals, creating a step towards testing on other organisms.

However, this study still has some issues to be addressed, such as the density of nanobot in a certain body area.

Many other animal tests should also be conducted before nanobots are put to use in human health.