[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-345275-105":59,"doc-detail-345275-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","genetically-engineered-human-cell-based-microrobots-for-selective-cancer-cell-death","Genetically engineered human cell-based microrobots for selective cancer cell death","","Medical microrobots can deliver therapies to diseased sites, but physical targeting alone cannot reliably distinguish healthy from cancerous cells due to limited biological selectivity. This study presents a biohybrid system combining magnetic targeting with biological selectivity using human embryonic kidney cells engineered to secrete TRAIL. Engineered cells are conjugated to magnetic Janus particles for external control, accumulate near tumor spheroids, and release TRAIL continuously for days to induce selective cancer cell death while avoiding damage to healthy cells.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":35,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/genetically-engineered-human-cell-based-microrobots-for-selective-cancer-cell-death/345275/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/genetically-engineered-human-cell-based-microrobots-for-selective-cancer-cell-death/345275.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Liam","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-29","2026-09-22",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":81},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Why do existing microrobots struggle with selective cancer killing?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"They can localize to diseased regions, but they lack biological selectivity to distinguish healthy cells from cancerous cells once at the target site.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What biological mechanism provides selectivity in this microrobot system?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Human embryonic kidney cells are genetically engineered to produce TRAIL, which induces apoptosis in cancer cells across multiple tumor types without damaging healthy cells.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"How are the microrobots controlled and made to persist at tumor sites?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Engineered cells are conjugated to biocompatible magnetic Janus particles, enabling external magnetic fields to drive accumulation around tumor spheroids and continuous TRAIL release for several days.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},345275,1790465776,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":34,"category_name":35,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":81,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},8796095461564,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d","ENGINEERING  \nGenetically engineered human cell–based microrobots for selective cancer cell death  \nNihal Olcay Dogan1,2, Eylül Suadiye3, Julia Unangst3, Cem Balda Dayan4, Gunther Richter3, Ahmet Cingöz5,6, Tugba Bagci-Onder5, Metin Sitti1,5,7*  \nMedical microrobots have strong potential for targeted therapeutic delivery; however, current systems achieve only physical targeting, and once at the target site, they are unable to distinguish healthy cells from cancerous ones because of the lack of biological selectivity. Here, we present a biohybrid microrobot system that combines magnetic targeting with biological selectivity. The microrobots are derived from human embryonic kidney cells genetically engineered to produce tumor necrosis factor–related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL), a molecule that induces cancer cell death in multiple tumor types without damaging healthy cells. Engineered cells are then conjugated to biocompatible magnetic Janus particles—silica beads half-coated with FePt nanofilms—to enable external magnetic control. With magnetic fields, the microrobots accumulate around the tumor spheroids and continuously release TRAIL for several days, leading to selective cancer cell death while avoiding damage to healthy cells. This study combines microrobotics with genetically engineered cell therapies to achieve a targeted, prolonged, and cancer-selective therapeutic delivery.  \ncopyright © 2026 the Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. no claim to original U.S.  \nGovernment Works. Distributed under a creative commons Attribution license 4.0 (cc BY) .  \nINTRODUCTION  \nMobile microrobots—remotely controlled active machines operating at the cellular scale—offer a promising strategy for targeted therapeutic delivery by navigating the diseased sites using external energy sources, such as magnetic, acoustic, or optical fields (1–5). In the past decade, substantial progress has been made in microrobot design, actuation performance, drug loading capacity, and real-time tracking with medical imaging modalities, further enhancing their potential for medical applications (6–12). However, despite these advances, microrobots have been mainly fabricated from synthetic materials that may induce immune responses or exhibit cytotoxicity in vivo, thereby limiting their medical functionality because of the unwanted interactions with the body’s immune system and foreign body responses (13–15). In addition, the synthetic microrobots are often constrained by limited cargo-carrying capacity when compared to living cells (16, 17). In contrast, the body’s living cells can continuously synthesize and secrete bioactive molecules throughout their lifespan, offering enhanced therapeutic delivery with reduced immunogenicity (12, 15, 18–21). Therefore, developing biohybrid microrobots, especially from living human cells, can enable prolonged and high-level therapeutic release, improved efficacy, and innate biocompatibility, making these systems well suited for medical applications ( 15, 22– 25). Despite substantial progress in the field, current microrobots can achieve only physical targeting without inherent biological selectivity. Although microrobots can be localized to the target region, once they reach the target area, they cannot distinguish cancerous cells from healthy cells, highlighting the need for further exploration.  \nIn contrast, cell therapies can achieve biological targeting rather than physical targeting by using a patient’s own cells as “living drugs,”  \n1Physical intelligence Department, Max Planck institute for intelligent Systems, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany. 2institute for Biomedical engineering, eth Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland. 3Materials central Scientific Facility, Max Planck institute for intelligent Systems, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany. 4Robotic Materials Department, Max Planck institute for intelligent Systems, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany. 5School of Medicine","cbCaiscxYItv8M2X","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiscxYItv8M2X","pdf",2541426,15,"English","# Introduction\n## Current microrobot targeting limitations\n## Rationale for biohybrid microrobots from living cells\n## Need for biological selectivity beyond physical targeting","[{\"question\":\"Why do existing microrobots struggle with selective cancer killing?\",\"answer\":\"They can localize to diseased regions, but they lack biological selectivity to distinguish healthy cells from cancerous cells once at the target site.\"},{\"question\":\"What biological mechanism provides selectivity in this microrobot system?\",\"answer\":\"Human embryonic kidney cells are genetically engineered to produce TRAIL, which induces apoptosis in cancer cells across multiple tumor types without damaging healthy cells.\"},{\"question\":\"How are the microrobots controlled and made to persist at tumor sites?\",\"answer\":\"Engineered cells are conjugated to biocompatible magnetic Janus particles, enabling external magnetic fields to drive accumulation around tumor spheroids and continuous TRAIL release for several days.\"}]","Genetically engineered human cell-based microrobots for selective cancer cell death | PDF",1790057093,38]