MIT's injectable nanoantennas kill drug-resistant brain cancer 5x better than chemo

melnykowycz · x · 2026-09-11

MIT Media Lab researchers led by Deblina Sarkar published a technique called HITMAN in Science Advances: magnetically actuated nanoantennas injected into the brain generate localized electric fields under an external magnetic field to destroy drug-resistant glioblastoma cells while sparing healthy tissue.

In pre-clinical studies the approach eliminated 52.2% of drug-resistant cancer cells — over 5x the efficacy of standard chemotherapy — and extended median survival by 50% in animal models with no detectable toxicity. The poster's takeaway: brain-computer interfaces are heading toward being injectable devices.

Related event: MIT's Wirelessly Activated Nanoantennas Kill Brain Cancer Cells Five Times Better Than Chemo(3 posts)→

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