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Nanorobots will be used for treatment in the near future
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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In modern science fiction, we often come across microscopic robots that can perform a task of any complexity, for example, effectively deal with a viral infection, deliver necessary medicines to cells, etc. Most readers consider this kind of technology to be incredible or to be something that may exist, but only in a few decades.
However, in one of the research centers in San Diego, a group of specialists were able to create such robots - nanites that can penetrate a living organism and deliver drugs to cells, in addition, these robots have already been successfully tested.
A group of experts from the University of California have proven that artificially created microscopic robots can penetrate the cells of a living organism, and they can be used to transport drugs without any negative reactions.
As scientists note, the small robots are equipped with a molecular engine.
This engine has the form of small tubes, the length of which is 20 nanometers (1 nanometer is equal to 1 billionth of a meter), and the diameter is 5 micrometers. In each of the robots, specialists put particles of medicine. When the microrobots enter the human digestive system, zinc begins to interact with gastric juice (hydrochloric acid), as a result, hydrogen begins to be released, as a result, each nanorobot moves at a speed of 60 micrometers per second and leaves the stomach, after which another programmed mechanism is triggered and the microscopic robots are fixed on the intestinal walls. After this, the process of releasing nanoparticles from drugs that have entered the intestinal mucosa begins.
The research team plans to find a new fuel for the nanite robots, since the combination of blood and gas bubbles used in the experiment turned out to be ineffective. But despite this, it is already safe to say that a significant technological and scientific breakthrough is on the horizon in the history of medicine.
During experiments conducted on laboratory rodents, scientists found that the robotic nanites remained attached to the intestinal mucosa for 12 hours, despite the intake of food.
After the experts performed autopsies on the slaughtered animals, they found that the nanite robots had not damaged the tissues and mucous membranes of the organism. Nor had they exceeded the level of toxic contamination (the microscopic robots are made of zinc, which is the main nutrient for living organisms).
It should be noted that the successful work of the researchers from the University of California is only the beginning of the path to creating technologies that will allow the delivery of drugs directly to the diseased organ using microscopic robots. Such technologies can be used on people in the near future and will become a safe replacement for traditional methods that are currently used to deliver drugs to diseased organs and tissues.
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