Researchers at TUM are using nanorobots to reliably and precisely transform stem cells into bone cells. Berna Özkale Edelmann and Chen Wang explain to Moritz Neuß from ZDF Moma Future how this works.
ZDF Prof. Berna Özkale Edelmann's nanorobots consist of tiny gold rods and plastic chains. Several million of them are contained in a gel cushion measuring just 60 micrometers, together with a few human stem cells. Powered and controlled by laser light, the robots, which look like tiny balls, mechanically stimulate the cells by exerting pressure. "We heat the gel locally and use our system to precisely determine the forces with which the nanorobots press on the cell - thereby stimulating it," explains the professor of nano- and microrobotics at TUM. This mechanical stimulation triggers biochemical processes in the cell. Ion channels change their properties, and proteins are activated, including one that is particularly important for bone formation.
Link to the article: moma future: Roboter trainieren Stammzellen
