As scientists continue to search for ways to fight cancer, small machines called "nanomotors" could be the answer.
Researchers have put these tiny, synthetic devices inside live human cells for the first time, CNN reported via the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.
Nanomotors are made of gold rods that are an infinitesimal 300 nanometers in diameter and 3 micrometers long, or "less than the thickness of a human hair." They can move about inside cells and have the potential to damage them, something that scientists hope can be used to cure cancer someday.
"You could imagine if you had a way to get these specifically inside just cancer cells, you could then crank up the power and kill all those cells," said Tom Mallouk, senior author of the study and professor of materials chemistry and physics at Pennsylvania State University, as quoted by CNN.
Killing cancer cells and other possible uses, which include performing surgery inside a cell and delivering drugs, are still a while away for nanomotors.
According to the report, Mallouk and his team are still researching the basic science of the devices and the way they work within cells.
"We're more interested in understanding how these things work and using it as a tool to understand cell biology," he said.
Nanomotors will need to be tested in animals first before humans try them, and the testing process could take as long as 10 years.
The tiny devices were first powered by toxic fuels, but scientists have recently found ways to propel them with ultrasonic waves and steer them with magnetic forces.
"When we tickle a certain part of the cell, we see a mechanical part in another part of the cell, which is kind of surprising," Mallouk said.
At a higher ultrasonic power, nanomotors can be "like egg-beaters" inside a cell to do serious damage.
"If somebody who knows about cancer sees a way to cure cancer with these things, that's great," Mallouk said. "I'd be glad to talk to them."
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