Our lungs are constantly exposed to the outside world, breathing in not just oxygen but also dust, pollutants, bacteria, and viruses.
Thankfully, the respiratory system is equipped with defenses like tiny hairs in the nose, mucus in the windpipe, and immune cells called macrophages that work together to catch and remove harmful substances.
But these same defenses also make it very challenging to deliver medicine directly to the lungs when diseases like pneumonia or bronchitis occur.
Typically, doctors have to inject medicine into the bloodstream, hoping enough of it reaches the lungs.
This indirect approach requires higher doses, which can lead to side effects in other parts of the body.
But researchers at UC San Diego have found a way to bypass these barriers using tiny, algae-based microrobots that can carry medicine straight to the lungs.
These microrobots are not made of metal but of green algae—tiny plant-like organisms that can move on their own thanks to tiny whip-like structures called flagella.
Algae were chosen because they are safe, biodegradable, and small enough to escape the immune system’s defenses. The researchers load these algae with tiny packets of medicine that can be released directly where they are needed.
The next challenge was figuring out how to get these microrobots into the lungs.
The team discovered that if they chose a small enough species of algae, they could turn them into an aerosol—a fine mist of liquid droplets. These tiny droplets are easy to inhale, allowing the microrobots to reach the lungs without getting stuck in the nose or throat.
Even once inside the lungs, the microrobots still have to avoid macrophages—the immune cells that gobble up anything unfamiliar.
To solve this, the researchers gave the microrobots a “disguise”: they covered them with a coating made from cell membranes normally found in the body. This coating makes them appear familiar to the immune system, so the macrophages let them pass.
Once inside, the microrobots travel throughout the lungs, delivering their medicine exactly where it is needed. Because they are protected from immediate destruction, the medicine has time to do its job before the microrobots are eventually cleared out by the immune system.
Tests on mice with pneumonia showed remarkable results: all the mice treated with the microrobots survived, while those treated with traditional methods or left untreated did not. With such promising outcomes, researchers are hopeful that human clinical trials could be on the horizon.
This breakthrough could change the way we treat lung diseases, making it more effective and less harmful to the rest of the body.
What once seemed like science fiction is now becoming reality, opening new doors for direct, targeted treatment inside the lungs.
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