Aston University Leads €1.2M European Project to Develop Living 'Magnetobots' for Targeted Cancer Theranostics
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Aston University is leading a €1.2 million MSCA-funded MagBIO project involving 18 partner organizations to develop magnetotactic bacteria-based "magnetobots" for cancer theranostics.
The magnetobots aim to deliver anti-cancer drugs, drug-loaded liposomes, and immune-stimulating materials directly to solid tumors including pancreatic, breast, lung, and colorectal cancers.
Researchers will use external magnetic fields to guide the bacteria to tumor sites while tracking them via MRI, exploiting the bacteria's natural magnetosomes (search) and affinity for low-oxygen environments.
Aston University is spearheading a €1.2 million international research initiative to explore whether naturally magnetic bacteria can be engineered into living "magnetobots" capable of both detecting and treating solid tumors. Funded through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Staff Exchanges programme, the MagBIO project unites 18 partner organizations from academia, industry, and research institutes across Europe and beyond.
The project centers on magnetotactic bacteria — microorganisms found in aquatic environments such as lakes, rivers, sediments, and low-oxygen zones — that naturally produce magnetic nanoparticles called magnetosomes (search) within their cells. These magnetosomes allow the bacteria to orient and navigate using magnetic fields. The MagBIO consortium aims to exploit this intrinsic 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 to guide the bacteria precisely to tumor sites while simultaneously tracking their movement through imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
The research will target several common solid tumor types, including pancreatic, breast, lung, and colorectal cancers, combining expertise across biology, chemistry, engineering, and medical imaging to advance the emerging field of bacterial theranostics — the integration of diagnostic imaging and targeted therapy within a single platform.
Biomanufacturing and Scale-Up at Aston
At Aston University, the research team led by Dr. Alfred Fernandez-Castane at the Aston Institute for Membrane Excellence (AIME) and the Energy and Bioproducts Research Institute (EBRI) will tackle one of the most critical barriers to clinical translation: producing the bacteria safely, consistently, and at scale.
Using bioreactors — controlled vessels akin to those employed in biotechnology and pharmaceutical manufacturing — the team will investigate how oxygen levels, nutrient supply, and growth conditions influence bacterial production. Researchers will also study process scale-up and explore strategies to improve manufacturing efficiency while reducing waste. Sustainability is a core focus, with efforts directed at improving yields, deploying digital monitoring tools, and assessing whether by-products or waste streams from the production process can be reused or minimized.
"A promising medical technology cannot move forward unless it can be made safely, consistently and at a useful scale," the researchers noted.
The project builds on Aston's prior work with magnetotactic bacteria, which has included using the microorganisms and their magnetosomes (search) to recover valuable proteins from blood serum and extract critical metals from waste streams.
A Coordinated European Effort
Dr. Fernandez-Castane emphasized the collaborative nature of the initiative. "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."
The consortium will support knowledge exchange through secondments involving up to 67 researchers across the 18 partner organizations. The project also aims to train 34 early-stage researchers and 33 experienced researchers through interdisciplinary collaboration spanning academia, SMEs, and industry.
Partner institutions 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 integration of microbiology, advanced imaging, bioprocess engineering, and manufacturing science is intended to provide the interdisciplinary expertise needed to advance the technology toward future biomedical applications.