Leads: Scientists have created a needle 500 times finer than a human hair that could pave the way for new treatments for cancer.
Scientists from the University of Leeds in the UK used a very sophisticated needle called a nanopipette to see how cancer cells respond to treatment and how much they change during the process.
Current techniques used to study individual cells usually destroy them, so researchers can study these cells before or after treatment.
But a device being developed by researchers at the University of Leeds can repeatedly biopsie a living cell during cancer treatment and remove tiny samples without killing the cells.
This capability allows scientists to observe the response of cells to treatment over time.
This pipette has two very fine needles that can enter the cancer cell and extract the sample at the same time.
In this study, the researchers specifically studied glioblastoma (GBM) treatment adaptation and survival. This tumor is a malignant type of brain cancer.
The researchers used a pipette with the help of a nanosurgical platform to perform the procedure because it was nearly impossible to use by the human hand.
With the help of this device, scientists can repeatedly take cell samples and study the disease state in an individual cell.
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