Microscopic algae can swim through the body and dive deep into tissues, delivering nanoparticles of an antibiotic attached to their surfaces. The nanoparticles are coated in a neutrophil membrane to evade the host immune system and bind directly to pathogens. Researchers inserted the modified microbes directly into mouse windpipes, from where they spread throughout the lung tissue and killed pathogenic bacteria.

     Illustration showing microscopic algae swim through mouse lungs and deliver nanoparticles of an antibiotic attached to their surfaces
© MESA SCHUMACHER, Adapted from Fig. 1 of F. Zhang et al., Nat Mater 21:1324–32, 2022

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