Fourth Industrial Revolution

These tiny robots can kill cancer cells

A tray containing cancer cells sits on an optical microscope in the Nanomedicine Lab at UCL's School of Pharmacy in London May 2, 2013. Is nanomedicine the next big thing? A growing number of top drug companies seem to think so. The ability to encapsulate potent drugs in nanoparticles measuring billionths of a metre in diameter is opening up new options for super-accurate drug delivery, increasing precision hits at the site of disease with, hopefully, fewer side effects. Photograph taken on May 2, 2013. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett (BRITAIN - Tags: BUSINESS HEALTH SOCIETY SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY) - LM1E9530RDY01

Scientists have used tiny molecules to drill into deadly cancer cells, blasting them open Image: REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett

Callum Brodie
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The number of cancer cases is predicted to rise by 2035 Image: World Health Organization (WHO) GloboCan, BBC
The spinning nanobots burrow into cancer cells to destroy them Image: Tour Group/Rice University
A computer-generated image of a nanobot Image: Tour Group/Rice University
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