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Published on: July 14, 2021
Magnetic medical microrobots with memory-capable genetic circuits
Haotian Chen1, Yujun Chen1,2, Yingying Wang1
1State Key Laboratory of Autonomous Intelligent Unmanned Systems, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Anesthesiology and Brain Functional Modulation, Clinical Research Center for Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Translational Research Institute of Brain and Brain-Like Intelligence, Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Shanghai Fourth People's Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai 200434 China.
Scientists engineered magnetic probiotic microrobots with genetic memory for autonomous cancer treatment. These microrobots soften tumors and enhance drug delivery for improved therapeutic outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Synthetic Biology
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Microrobots offer potential for minimally invasive therapy but lack onboard memory, requiring external control.
- Limited onboard memory in microrobots restricts autonomous functions in targeted therapies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop magnetic probiotic microrobots with integrated genetic memory for autonomous antitumor treatment.
- To enable microrobots to perform sustained therapeutic actions without continuous external guidance.
Main Methods:
- Integration of a memory-capable genetic circuit (Bxb1-ssrA-attB-P7-attP) into magnetic microrobots.
- Utilizing a one-time magnetic hyperthermia trigger to activate the genetic memory and therapeutic state.
- Employing magnetically controlled wave-like locomotion for enhanced tumor penetration.
Main Results:
- Genetic memory remained active for at least 12 days, enabling sustained fibrin degradation and tumor softening.
- Achieved a 6.70-fold reduction in tumor matrix stiffness compared to memory-absent microrobots.
- Significantly boosted in vivo anticancer efficacy from 21.86% to 87.52%.
Conclusions:
- The developed microrobots demonstrate autonomous antitumor treatment capabilities through genetic memory.
- The system establishes a generalizable framework for memory-encoded medical microrobots beyond oncology.
- This innovation paves the way for advanced, autonomous microrobotic therapies.
