Developing 3D-printed fish-shaped microrobots to target cancer cells

Researchers at the University of Science and Technology of China (Hefei, China) and The Chinese University of Hong Kong (China) have engineered 3D-printed fish-shaped microrobots that utilize pH sensitivity to specifically target cancer cells. Cancer is a leading cause of death world-wide, and chemotherapy is often presented to cancer patients as the primary or sole treatment. Although chemotherapy can successfully treat many forms of cancer, its side effects are often significant because it indiscriminately kills fast-growing cells, which can include a patient’s healthy cells too. As such, a key aim in cancer drug research has been to develop treatments which...