In the 1966 Hollywood film, Fantastic Voyage, a group of scientists enter the bloodstream of a colleague to remove a blood clot from his brain, by shrinking themselves and their submarine, Proteus, to the size of a cell. This element of science fiction is on its way to becoming a reality, as recent research aims at moving microbots into the bloodstream to deliver drugs. Speaking of this work, Varun Sridhar from Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS), Stuttgart, Germany, says, “Our work has shown that it is possible to use light as a fuel to move microbots in real-body conditions with intelligent drug-delivery that is selectively sensitive to cancer cells.” The research is led by MPI-IS and Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research (MPI-FKF), Stuttgart, Germany.
Imagine trying to swim in a pool of honey. Any effort to push backwards and thus generate forward motion would be hindered by the high viscosity of the honey. At the microscopic level, the viscosity of even water is overwhelming. “A Hollywood film can take liberties; miniaturising a submarine is all that is [needed]. However, in real life, locomotion of microscopic swimmers is not that simple,” says Metin Sitti, a director at MPI-IS, who is part of the collaboration.
