Micromotor
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'Micromotors' alter your gut's chemistry to safely deliver medicine
There's a reason diabetics can't take their insulin orally (for the time being): stomach acid is super effective at dissolving it and similar large proteins, like antibiotics. But rather than force patients to pound pints of Maalox or chew a tub of Tums before taking their medicine, a team of researchers at UC San Diego have developed a novel method of getting your medication past the acid by using nearly microscopic drug delivery vehicles which increase the pH as they swim through your stomach.
New micromotor enslaves bacteria for micro power
So, it's not going to power your car anytime soon, but a new micromotor developed by Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology could have all sorts of potential other than lugging our lazy asses around town. The new motor measures a mere 20-microns in diameter, with 6 blades that each have a foot sitting in a 0.5-micron deep groove sketched in silicon. The groove and the feet are treated with some proteins that cause bacteria in the trench to move in a certain direction -- horse and carrot style. Researchers are banking on the tech to power microdevices of the future, including micromachines and miniature pumps for medical purposes. We're just proud to be members of a human race that has brought even micron-sized bacteria under its iron rule.
