Bacteria Harnessed As Micro-Robot Motors

ElectricBrian writes "Researchers have found a way to propel micro-capsules by attaching bacteria (S. marcescens, the type that makes your shower curtain moldy). Scientists at Carnegie Mellon University fixed the bacteria to the micro-capsules and then used chemicals to turn on and off their motion-producing flagella. Quoting: 'In the future, such hybrid swimming micro-robots could even be used to deliver drugs inside the liquid environments of the human body, such as the urinary tract, eyeball cavity, ear, and cerebrospinal fluid...'"

Comments

They can be harnessed until...

[RickRussellTX]

they unionize. Then they'll lobby to get a monopoly on every drug-delivery job, and prices will skyrocket, and we'll have to call them "pharmaceutical delivery workers" instead of "bacteria".

Its covered

[KKlaus]

Don't worry. After the drug delivering mold has done its work we send in mold eating chinese needle snakes. But aren't those worse than the mold you say? Don't worry. After the mold's all gone we then send in gorillas to eat the snakes. What about the fact that you now have gorillas in your eyes? That's the real brilliance of the plan. Come winter, all the gorillas will freeze to death and the natural cleaning function of your eyes will flush them out after a short period, and you'll be fully cured! Another triumph of modern medicine.

Re:Mold in the eye of the beholder...

[iminplaya]

They don't think there would be a minor complication with getting rid of the mold afterwards?

Just break it.