A new way to target cancer
nature video · Published on September 9, 2026
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Description
People taking medication often experience side effects.This is particularly true for individuals receiving chemotherapy for cancer. To minimize side effects, and target tumours more directly, scientists are looking for new ways to deliver drugs. And they've hit on an unlikely vehicle: bacteria. As well as delivering the drugs, bacteria can manufacture them using their own cellular machinery. More animal and human trials are needed before genetically engineered bacteria are used routinely to deliver drugs. But if successful, microorganisms including those more commonly known for their disease-causing capabilities, could become part of a fleet of treatments against diseases such as cancer. Read more: https://www.nature.com/collections/jggjicdegi 00:00 - What happens when we take medicine? 00:22 - Targeting treatments 00:33 - Why might bacteria be useful? 00:54 - Engineering a bacteria delivery vehicle 01:51 - Manufacturing IL2 02:17 - Controlling the bacteria 02:50 - Parasites! 03:19 - What's next? Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday: https://www.nature.com/briefing This Nature Video is editorially independent. It is produced with third party financial support. Read more about Supported Content here: https://partnerships.nature.com/commercial-content-at-nature-research/
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