Magnetotactic bacteria project aims to develop living cancer ‘magnetobots’
Aston University is leading a €1.2m international research project to investigate whether naturally magnetic bacteria can be harnessed to deliver targeted cancer therapies.
Funded through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Staff Exchanges programme, the MagBIO project brings together 18 partner organisations from academia, industry and research institutes to develop "magnetobots" capable of both identifying and treating solid tumours.
The researchers will investigate the use of magnetotactic bacteria, microorganisms which naturally produce magnetic particles known as magnetosomes that allow them to navigate using magnetic fields. The project aims to exploit this property by attaching therapeutic payloads, including anti-cancer drugs, drug-loaded liposomes and immune-stimulating materials, to the bacterial surface.
Using external magnetic fields, researchers hope the bacteria could be guided precisely to tumour sites while being tracked using imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
The consortium will focus on cancers including pancreatic, breast, lung and colorectal disease, combining expertise in biology, chemistry, engineering and medical imaging to develop the emerging field of bacterial theranostics.
At Aston University, researchers will concentrate on one of the key challenges facing any future clinical application: producing the bacteria safely, consistently and at scale.
Led by Dr Alfred Fernandez-Castane at the Aston Institute for Membrane Excellence (AIME) and the Energy and Bioproducts Research Institute (EBRI), the team will use bioreactors to investigate how oxygen levels, nutrient supply and growth conditions influence bacterial production. Researchers will also study process scale-up and explore ways to improve manufacturing efficiency while reducing waste.
The project will build on Aston's previous work using magnetotactic bacteria to recover valuable proteins from blood serum and extract critical metals from waste streams.
Dr Fernandez-Castane said the initiative marks an important step in bringing together expertise from across Europe and beyond.
"We are incredibly proud that MagBIO represents one of the first coordinated Europe-wide efforts to bring together leading experts in magnetotactic bacteria with specialists from complementary disciplines to explore living magnetobots for cancer theranostics," he said.
"The field is still at an early stage, but the potential is truly exciting."
Alongside the scientific programme, the consortium will support knowledge exchange through secondments involving up to 67 researchers across the 18 partner organisations. The project also aims to train 34 early-stage researchers and 33 experienced researchers through interdisciplinary collaboration spanning academia, SMEs and industry.
Partners include Diamond Light Source, the University of Sheffield, the University of Bologna, the University of Granada, the University of Latvia and specialist companies working in biomanufacturing, magnetic systems, pharmaceutical technologies and sustainable process development.
According to the researchers, the combination of microbiology, advanced imaging, bioprocess engineering and manufacturing science is intended to provide the interdisciplinary expertise needed to advance the technology towards future biomedical applications.
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