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.
Related news
Exitoso simposio conjunto con el Instituto Biofisika
El 19 de junio celebramos el simposio ‘Processes and Materials for Life’, organizado conjuntamente con el Instituto Biofisika. El objetivo del simposio fue compartir el conocimiento común de ambos...‘Materials for Society’. Charla/coloquio con Jorge García del Arco
El próximo 18 de junio, a partir de las 11:00 en el auditorio Martina Casiano de Leioa, BCMaterials abre un nuevo capítulo de ‘Materials for Society’, una iniciativa que relaciona la ciencia con el...Entrevista a Maibelin Rosales en ‘STEMlab podcast’
Nuestra investigadora post-doctoral Marie Curie Maibelin Rosales es una de las protagonistas de la serie ‘STEMlab podcast’, promovida por BizkaiaTech, de la Diputación Foral de Bizkaia. El objetivo...Visita del Comité Asesor Local de BCMaterials
El pasado 3 de junio recibimos la visita de miembros del Comité Asesor Local de BCMaterials, uno de los órganos consultivos de nuestro centro en materia científica. El objetivo de la reunión era que...