Advancements in nanotechnology are finally starting to pay off as proved by a recent experiment which involved feeding nanobots to a living mouse. Though all of this may sound a bit like science-fiction, similar experiments have been performed before, albeit they have been limited to lab samples. The mouse in question is the very first living animal to hold nanobots inside it so this is definitely a major breakthrough. The said micro-machines are not as advanced as one might imagine, but they are still pretty impressive nevertheless.
By Jason Moth|Geek snack
Put simply, the microscopic devices are just zinc-coated polymer tubes containing a cargo that was meant to reach the stomach of the mouse. Sure enough, the 20 micrometer-long nanobots were fed to the animal and immediately began to react once they made contact with the acid found in its stomach. More specifically, the zinc coating reacted to the acid by producing hydrogen bubbles, which essentially propelled the tiny devices towards the stomach’s lining where they were supposed to arrive. Once there, the nanobots dissolved and the particles found within were released into the stomach tissue. In other words, mission successful.
The goal of this experiment was to see if these rudimentary nanobots can deliver their cargo inside a living animal without any sort of side effects. Fortunately, everything worked like a charm and the mouse wasn’t even aware that it was part of an experiment which could lead to further major breakthroughs in the field of nanorobotics. The research was conducted by scientists from the University of California and published in the journal ACS Nano. One of the authors notes that this method of administration is a lot more efficient when compared to the more traditional pill-swallowing. He also points that this is merely the first step towards the goal of improving the technology even further and continuing to evaluate the performance of nanobots in living organisms.
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