Express Delivery

It’s no good having a chef to make delicious pizzas, but no waiters or delivery people to bring them to hungry customers. Likewise, exciting new stem-cell treatments, that promise to boost recovery with renewed growth from starter cells that can develop into any number of other forms, are only useful if the stem cells can be transported to where they’re needed. A new study has developed magnet-controlled microbots to help overcome this limitation. The tiny structures provide a scaffold for cells like neurons (brain cells, orange, right) and oligodendrocytes (support cells in the brain, stained green, left) to grow, and can then be guided through the body with external magnets. Initial tests have shown that the parcels can be precisely delivered, raising hopes that one day this system could improve treatments, especially for Alzheimer’s and other neurological disorders.

Written by Anthony Lewis

Anthony Lewis

Writer

Ant was the web editor in the early days of BPoD, and has since worked with the UK’s top science organisations as a writer and multimedia producer. He now splits his time between freelance work and managing multimedia at The Lancet.

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• Image adapted from work by Sungwoong Jeon and Sangwon Kim, and colleagues
• Department of Robotics Engineering, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science & Technology (DGIST), Daegu, South Korea
• Images reprinted with permission from the AAAS - the American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Published in Science Robotics, May 2019