Light-activated molecular motor drives drug delivery
Drug-delivery system is a ‘step towards using molecular motors in the clinic’
A new drug delivery technique uses synthetic molecular motors that rotate to release a drug when activated by visible light. The proof-of-principle delivery mechanism, which was tested on cultured lung cancer cells, could enable a non-invasive, highly controlled and targeted way to activate drugs inside the body.
Ben Feringa at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands is credited with making the first light-powered synthetic molecular motor in 1999. His subsequent work, including a molecular nanocar, earned him a share of the 2016 Nobel prize in chemistry. Other groups have used motors based on Feringa’s work to explore therapeutic applications, including drilling holes into cancer cell membranes to kill them.