BEIJING – Chinese scientists said they have successfully created and testedthe world’s first autonomous DNA nanorobots to combat cancer tumours,paving the way for revolutionary cancer therapy.
Scientists from China’s National Center for Nanoscience and Technology(NCNST) led the research and cooperated with scientists from Arizona StateUniversity in upgrading the design of the nanorobots. The scientific studywas published in Nature Biotechnology in February.
A nanorobot refers to a designed system that can perform a specific task atnanoscale dimensions.
According to researcher Ding Baoquan, the DNA-based nanorobot has atube-shaped structure with a diameter of about 19 nanometers and a lengthof about 90 nanometers.
“The nanorobot is exceptionally small and impossible to see with nakedeyes. It is about 5,000 times smaller than the tip of a needle,” Ding said.
It can travel through the bloodstream searching for tumors. Once it detectsa tumor, it will release its load of thrombin directly into the tumor tocut off its blood supply and “starve” the tumor to death.
As the DNA nanorobot is a natural biocompatible and biodegradable material,it is cleared out of the body after it has finished its task.
Nanotechnology has provided new opportunities for medical industry. Theresearch was started five years ago, when NCNST researchers first looked atcutting off the tumor blood supply by using DNA-based nanocarriers.
Ding said although the concept of nanorobots for medical use has previouslybeen introduced and experiments conducted in test tubes, this is the firsttime that experiments have been completed on living organisms withsophisticated biological environments.
The research evaluated the nanorobots in mice with tumours. The DNAnanorobots were injected into mice, and the results showed significanttumour shrinkage and often, complete tumour regression, within days orweeks.
According to scientist Zhao Yuliang, the research team also conductedextensive safety studies of the nanorobots in two different mammals,including the Bama miniature pig, which is physiologically and anatomicallysimilar to humans.
(Xinhua)