Peak Kerbal: propelling vaccine particles with a catalytic reaction motor

[DDE]

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190206091345.htm

TL;DR: nanoparticle coating of magnesium substrate decomposes water to produce thrust, allowing the oral vaccine to reach the target site before the acid can kill it.

[Scotius]

Sooo... It bombards germs with self-propelled projectiles? Thats metal.

[DDE]

31 minutes ago, Scotius said:

Sooo... It bombards germs with self-propelled projectiles? Thats metal. 

Technically it bombards your own stomach lining to escape an environmental hazard, but yeah.

Edited February 8, 2019 by DDE

[Xd the great]

Would it be easier to use a capsule 

 

[RealKerbal3x]

1 hour ago, Xd the great said:

Would it be easier to use a capsule 

 

Yes, but having self-propelled medicine is just cool.

[p1t1o]

2 hours ago, DDE said:

Technically it bombards your own stomach lining to escape an environmental hazard, but yeah.

I dont think thats quite right. The abstract describes the particles being coated with an acid resistant coating which protects it through the stomach, the "motor" (<eyeroll>) only activates once in the intestine, where the particles collect at the intestinal wall.

I am highly skeptical that the so-called "motor" is physically propelling the particles to the "target". What we are seeing in the data is a drug-coated particle, with a certain composition, that tends to arrive in the right place.

Is there a nozzle to direct this "thrust"? Is there a guidance system? "micromotor" seems like a poor choice of words. Or more pessimistically, Clickbait.

For all we know, there are proteins in the intestinal wall which have a slight affinity ("stickiness") for magnesium, or magnesium oxide - or like literally any of a hundred other explanations that are not literal rocket powered guided missiles.

 

**

Getting past the stomach is easy, I think that the point of this new techniques is that they arrive at the right places, or a more optimal concentration at the right places, specifically on the intestinal membranes in question. Rather than say, flushing straight through and being passed in waste or entering the bloodstream.

 

Edited February 8, 2019 by p1t1o