Now in our 13th year of bringing you beautiful imagery from biomedical science every day

Search the archive of over 4000 images

Promising Particles
25 October 2012

Promising Particles

Bioengineers are busy creating tiny particles that may one day change our lives. Some could help our bodies to fight diseases; or act as sensors of our internal beats and rhythms. New particles are being developed as quickly as new uses can be dreamed up. These microscope images show a new design: tube-shaped microparticles made from bendy polymers with an unusual trick up their sleeves. A blast of ultrasound triggers the blue-coloured polymer to contract from a tube (left) into a ball (right), pulling the red polymer into a curve. They’re actually behaving a little bit like arm muscles, yet each particle (magnified in the inset pictures) is roughly five hundred times smaller than a thumb nail. Shape-shifting particles may be used to release drugs into the bloodstream at the flick of a switch or for a number of applications no-one has thought of yet – perhaps you could?

Written by John Ankers

Search The Archive

Submit An Image

Follow on Tumblr

Follow on Instagram

What is BPoD?

BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

Read More

BPoD is also available in Catalan at www.bpod.cat with translations by the University of Valencia.