The Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) welcomes Dr. Samuel Sánchez –one of the world’s top researchers – and a record-breaker – in the field of nano- and microrobots is coming –who is taking up a new group leader of IBEC's Smart nano-bio-devices. there this month Dr. Sánchez’s pioneering work on micro- and nanomotors – machines as small as bacteria that can target specific cells in the body for applications such as highly localised drug delivery – will contribute greatly to one of IBEC’s three areas of application: Bioengineering for Future Medicine.

“Not only are existing nanorobots not yet small enough to slip inside a cell, the fuel used to propel them is so toxic that it kills all cells – even healthy ones – within minutes,” he explains. “We’re developing machine which are even smaller, avoiding metals in their construction, and doing away with the poisonous fuels altogether by using other methods of propulsion or guidance.”

His creations include self-propelling tubular motors that produce oxygen bubbles to keep themselves moving, particle transporters that can be switched on or off by UV light, and even tiny ‘microdrills’ that bore into cells and are steered magnetically. “Magnetism is a good option for remotely manipulating these types of machines, as the magnetic fields are not harmful to the human body,” he explains.tren en les cèl·lules i giren magnèticament. “El magnetisme és una bona opció per a la manipulació remota d’aquesta mena de màquines perquè els camps magnètics no són perjudicials per al cos humà”, revela Sánchez.

For Dr. Sánchez, the move to Barcelona is a homecoming. After completing his PhD in Chemistry at the Autonomous University of Barcelona he moved to Japan as an independent researcher and later to Germany, where he will continue to maintain a laboratory at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems until December 2017. In 2012 he entered the Guinness Book of Records for inventing a type of micromotor, the world’s smallest ‘jet engine’ and in the same year his research was a recognised with an ERC Starting Grant. In 2014, Dr. Sanchez was named “Innovador del Año” by MIT Technology Review, the best of their ten selected “Innovadores menores de 35 España 2014″. It’s an honour shared by Sergey Brin and Mark Zuckerberg, creators of Google and Facebook respectively, both of whom are previous winners of the American edition of the award.