BCMaterials Fortnightly Seminar #87 David Gandía

DAVID GANDÍA

(BCMATERIALS)

Remotely controlled magnetotactic bacteria as biological microrobots

Magnetotactic bacteria are a group of bacteria that live in aquatic systems and swim along the Earth’s magnetic field lines thanks to the chain of magnetic nanoparticles (called magnetosomes) that they biomineralize in their interior, which acts as a magnetic sensor. In addition, these bacteria detect hypoxic regions where they prefer to survive. We want to take advantage of the magnetic and oxygen sensing of the magnetotactic bacteria in order to develop biological nanorobots capable of targeting and killing cancer cells in a controlled and highly efficient way, by releasing anticancer drugs and heat in the tumour area. The research includes the magnetic and structural characterization of magnetotactic bacteria, the study of their movement under applied magnetic fields and oxygen gradients in a microfluidic chip fabricated by photolithography, and the design and implementation of a workstation to monitor, guide, and heat up the bacteria, aimed at assessing the suitability of magnetotactic bacteria as potential cancer therapy agents.