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lawless_c t1_j6obb8z wrote

Reply to comment by intengineering in AskScience AMA Series: I'm Birgül Akolpoglu, a doctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Germany. I work on microalgae and bacteria-based microrobots that could one day be used to deliver drugs and battle cancer! AMA! by AskScienceModerator

Is this making them swim i directions you choose or is it more like dragging them about?

Does the magnetic tool(s) that control them have to be super close, like contact with the body?

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intengineering t1_j6oeuco wrote

It is not dragging but rather aligning them. So what happens is that the nanoparticles on bacteria align with the applied magnetic field. Therefore, bacteria follow that path. We could also create so-called "magnetic gradients", which would cause dragging or pulling. But we want to use their own motility rather than pulling them.

As for the second question: No, they don't. We use electromagnetic coils (see: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/electromagnetic-coil) that generate enough magnetic field in the center of the setup to steer the microswimmers. These setups are designed for microscopic use, i.e., we attach them to a microscope to simultaneously visualize the motion of bacteria under magnetic fields. Of course, you would need much larger setups for use in humans in the future, but even in that case, it wouldn't be in contact with the body.

Thanks for the Qs!
All the best,
/birgül

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DeDragoner t1_j6okrhi wrote

How do you envision to implement this in vivo? There will be innumerable additional challenges (navigating 3D space, tissues etc.) How do you plan to reach tissues? A delivery by the bloodstream would cause heavy immun reactions.

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