Nanorobots propel through the eye
Researchers of the Micro, Nano and Molecular Systems Lab at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart, together with an international team of scientists, have developed propeller-shaped nanorobots that, for the first time, are able to drill through dense tissue as is prevalent in an eye. They applied a non-stick coating to the nanopropellers, which are only 500 nm wide – exactly small enough to fit through the tight molecular matrix of the gel-like substance in the vitreous. The drills are 200 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair, even smaller than a bacterium´s width. Their shape and their slippery coating enable the nanopropellers to move relatively unhindered through an eye, without damaging the sensitive biological tissue around them. This is the first time scientists were able to steer nanorobots through dense tissue, as so far, it has only been demonstrated in model systems or biological...