Sperm may have a new purpose in its short life: fighting cancer.
German scientists fitted sperm with a microscopic harnesses, driving them to tumor cells, and releasing them, where – instead of delivering genetic material – they dropped a cancer-killing payload.
Chemotherapy can effectively treat many cancers, but it also damages healthy cells in the process, leading to the drug’s unpleasant side effects, like intense nausea.
The experiment used cattle sperm, which effectively contained and delivered the chemo in simulated bodies, but it is unclear if that sperm would work in real human women.
Still, the study authors said the unusual delivery method had great promise for delivering all sorts of drugs to the complex female reproductive system.
