Penn State researchers operate nanomotors in HeLa cells

A team of chemists and engineers at Penn State have been able to insert and control nanomotors within human cells, according to  Krista Weidner for PennStateSCIENCE.

The gold nanoparticles were successfully inserted into live HeLa cells, cervical cancer cells derived from those taken from Henrietta Lacks in 1951.

The chemists were able to use ultrasound pulses to control the nanomotors, according to Weidner's report. These pulses help move and rotate the motors around cell structures.

This video was taken of the nanomotors, also called nanorods, inside the HeLa cells.

 

These molecular motors may have implications not just for diagnosing cellular diseases, but possibly for helping repair cell problems from within. 

Like the HeLa cells they were first used in, scientists can only speculate what contributions the nanomotors will make in biochemistry.