The University of Southampton

Category: Stem cells – a miracle cure?

Who Would Of Thought Tiny Bubbles Could Treat Cancer?

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The use of microbubbles within cancer treatment sounds comical, but these little bundles of joy can be used for a variety of medical applications. Over the last decade, these have been praised as the future of Cancer diagnosis and treatment and represent a safe and non-invasive alternative to Chemotherapy. I first heard about Microbubbles at a Workshop as part of my University, and it fascinated me that Microbubbles could kill cancer cells while sparing healthy ones, unlike Chemotherapy. This piqued my interest, which made me want to learn how they can be used to treat cancer within patients.

What are Microbubbles?

At the Workshop, I learned that Microbubbles are small bubbles (0.5–10 μm) consisting of a phospholipid outer layer and gas core and are used clinically during Ultrasound Imaging. When injected during Ultrasound Imaging, they resonate vigorously under the transducer, reflecting waves more effectively in body tissues and increasing imaging sensitivity.

[9] An image showing the structure of a microbubble responding to ultrasound waves produced by a Transducer during ultrasound scanning in Pregnancy

However, once researchers realised these bubbles could move around the body safely, drug delivery in the treatment of cancer was greatly considered.

So Why Are These Tiny Bubbles So Effective In Treating Cancer?

Currently, chemotherapy drugs are injected into the blood and destroy cancer cells, however, this can also result in the death of healthy cells, leading to shocking side effects such as nausea and hair loss.

Microbubbles, on the other hand, can target smaller doses of chemotherapy drugs to cancer cells alone due to their Phospholipid shell, preventing the damage of healthy cells, reducing side effects, allowing patients to recover quicker.

“By using microbubbles and ultrasound we can control when and where a drug gets released, and crucially also distribute it throughout a tumour”

– Oxford scientist Eleanor Stride To WIRED

[6]

However, within aggressive types of cancer, low oxygen levels in tumours cause resistance to chemotherapy drugs, so to resolve this, Microbubbles can be filled with oxygen to improve the delivery of the drug and its ability to kill more aggressive cancer cells.

I was glad to read that the use of oxygen within microbubbles has also seen some effectiveness in reducing Cancer within rats, however, this is still within the pre-clinical research stage. Overall, there is some promise, but it was shocking to read that a separate stroke study revealed safety concerns when high dosages caused haemorrhaging in two patients, showing that parameters of ultrasound radiation and the number of microbubbles when applied should be evaluated to prevent this from ever happening again.

So Microbubbles May Have The Potential To Cure Cancer?

Despite this, many reports have reported positive results within the use of Microbubbles, giving it the potential to save many lives. At first, I found it comical that Microbubbles could be used to treat cancer, but my mind has seriously changed after reading different articles and papers within this field.

I found it fascinating when Oxford scientist Dr Stride told New Scientist that “If you expose the blood-brain barrier to bubbles and ultrasound, you can temporarily and reversibly enhance its permeability, which is potentially interesting for a lot of brain treatments”, which made me believe that Microbubbles deserves further research as it may also have the potential to protect brain cells from dying. I’m excited to witness what I’ve called the ‘bubble revolution’ taking shape within the NHS, and seeing the countless lives that will be transformed thanks to this ground-breaking research.

“Combining oxygen-carrying microbubbles with ultrasound-triggered delivery to solid tumours is a novel approach to enhancing tumour oxygenation and sensitivity to radiation, and it deserves further study,”

Dr. Bernhard Eric Bernhard, Ph.D., chief of the Radiotherapy Development Branch in NCI’s Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis.

Bibliography

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says CP. What are Microbubbles? [Internet]. News-Medical.net. 2018. Available from: https://www.news-medical.net/life-sciences/What-are-Microbubbles.aspx

[2]

New Portfolio. Editor’s choice: microbubbles [Internet]. Nature. 2022 [cited 2025 Mar 27]. Available from: https://www.nature.com/collections/edfggagdej

[3]

NCI Staff. Using Oxygen “Microbubbles” To Improve Radiation Therapy – National Cancer Institute [Internet]. www.cancer.gov. 2018. Available from: https://www.cancer.gov/news-events/cancer-currents-blog/2018/microbubbles-radiation-breast-cancer

[4]

Medeiros J. Using microbubbles to target cancer tumors [Internet]. WIRED. 2017 [cited 2025 Mar 27]. Available from: https://www.wired.com/story/cancer-bubble/

[5]

Hu Q, Zhang Y, Fu L, Xi Y, Ye L, Yang X, et al. Progress and preclinical application status of ultrasound microbubbles. Journal of Drug Delivery Science and Technology [Internet]. 2024 Feb [cited 2024 Oct 2];92:105312. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1773224723011644

[6]

Leeds Alumini. Microbubbles Animation [Internet]. Youtu.be. 2025 [cited 2025 Mar 27]. Available from: https://youtu.be/vXjeJQy6V_M?si=fJBXRXIMWAt58_sf

[7]

Spencer B. The tiny bubbles filled with drugs that could transform cancer treatment [Internet]. Mail Online. Daily Mail; 2015 [cited 2025 Mar 27]. Available from: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3123944/The-tiny-bubbles-filled-drugs-transform-cancer-treatment-Findings-reduce-effects-chemotherapy.html

[8]

Macrae F. Bubbles “could deliver stroke drugs directly to the brain” [Internet]. Mail Online. Daily Mail; 2010 [cited 2025 Mar 27]. Available from: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1328644/Bubbles-deliver-stroke-drugs-directly-brain.html

[9]

Rumney R. Workshop – Stem cell regenerative medicine – Robin Rumney [Internet]. Blackboard. 2025 [cited 2025 Mar 27]. Available from: https://blackboard.soton.ac.uk/ultra/courses/_228111_1/outline/edit/document/_7135192_1?courseId=_228111_1&view=content&state=view

The Future and Ethics of Stem Cell Research

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It is clear that the future of medicine lies in stem cell research, offering treatment possibilities to an enormously wide range of diseases using the body’s own healing mechanisms. Despite this, stem cell research faces many ethical implications (particularly embryonic stem cells), posing a dilemma between morality and furthering scientific innovation.

What are Stem Cells

Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that have the potential to become many types of specialised cells. The ethical problems lie in collecting the stem cells a there are two separate types: adult (somatic) and embryonic. Adult stem cells are multipotent, meaning they can differentiate into a wide range of specialised cells, but they are limited and they eventually sensece. In comparison, embryonic stem cells are pluripotent, meaning they can divide into any cell type.

Why are Stem Cells Useful?

The potential of stem cells is massive, it is believed that they could be involved in the cure for Parkinsons’s, Alzheimer’s and type 1 diabetes. Conditions relating to tissue damage could become things of the past as scarred tissue from liver cirrhosis or scarred heart tissue from heart disease can be replaced without the need for an organ transplant. They are also useful in laboratory purposes as they are useful in making ‘knockout mice’. Knockout mice are made from mating two chimeric mice in which you can remove certain genes, giving a great insight into what each gene does.

Ethical Concerns

Adult stem cells pose little ethical dilemma as all the methods used to extract them pose very little risk, the most common being a bone marrow extraction under local anaesthetic. Ethical dilemmas are raised when embryonic stem cells are used because it can be seen as destroying an early human life, raising the ethical question: when does a human life start?

While those who argue against the use of embryonic stem cells argue that the embryo has a potential for life and therefore the elimination of it is equivalent to the taking of a human life. The argument against this is that there are countless spare embryos after fertilisation procedures that would be discarded anyway, so scientific testing that could save and improve lives is not just permitted, but the right thing to do.

To combat these ethical concerns, a surprising discovery was made that by knocking out 4 genes, adult skin cells could be reverted into pluripotent cells. This helps deal with the ethical dilemma of harvesting the stem cells, but it raises more questions relating to the idea of human enhancement.

Conclusion

This ethical dilemma is a cornerstone moment for human scientific research because it creates a line between morality and scientific research. How far are we willing to go to understand how our body works? Is it okay to cross moral lines against embryos in order to save more lives in the future? At what point do biological enhancements make a person inhuman? The answers to all of these questions will be used as the precedent for the future of medicine.

Type 1 Diabetes: The fight for a cure

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Imagine if your ability to eat relied on whether you could solve a handful of maths questions, lines of algebra blocking you from simply reaching over to the snack drawer and grabbing a bag of your favourite crisps. Sounds like a nightmare, right? But for 464,000 people in the UK alone, this is a version of their reality whilst living with type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease that prevents your body from producing insulin [1].

What is insulin?

Insulin, a vital hormone produced by the pancreas after the ingestion of food, enables our body to transfer glucose from our blood into our cells, allowing it to be used as energy [2].

Image available at: https://gluroo.com/blog/diabetes-101/insulin-faqs-type-1-diabetes/ (accessed: 09/03/25)

Those with type 1 diabetes have a pancreas that is unable to produce enough insulin to promote this transfer causing their levels of blood glucose to slowly increase with each meal, the sugars predominantly being expelled only as waste via frequent urination. As a result, insulin must be supplemented through injection, quantities being meticulously calculated dependent on what is being eaten and when. Whilst with years of practice calculating the amount of insulin you need can become almost second nature, many with this disease long for a day where they can eat freely, not having to constantly monitor their blood sugar levels and symptoms.

A short video explaining some key aspects of type 1 diabetes – closed captions are available!

Current Technologies

Whilst technology currently exists which aims to make the lives of those with diabetes easier, nothing works quite as well as a pancreas. For example, DexCom is a company which produces a small sensor which allows for the continuous monitoring of blood sugar levels, a connecting app receiving and displaying the statistics on a regular basis. Having an error of only 8.2%, this sensor would appear to be amazing in almost any other application, but when it comes to someone’s health you can never be accurate enough [3].

This video follows a young woman called Jordan and how DexCom allowed her to regain control of her life and love for sport (closed captions available)

With pancreas transplants carrying the same risks as any other major surgery, the possibility of rejection urging healthcare professionals to encourage the majority to manage their condition through diet and medication, most are left with these sensors as their most advanced form of care. Therefore, although some aspects of life with type 1 diabetes can be made more “convenient”, the fight for an accessible cure is still ongoing.

Stem Cells and Ethics

Excitingly, it has been reported that a 25-year-old woman with type 1 diabetes has undergone a stem cell transplant enabling her pancreas to begin producing insulin again, it continuing to do so even a year post transplant – more about this encouraging story can be read here! Whilst this seems promising, the procedure does come with risks. It is believed that a form of immunosuppression is required in order to prevent complications, making the patient more vulnerable to other illnesses and infections.

Furthermore, there is currently a large volume of debate over the ethics of using stem cells in treatments. Embryonic stem cells, those that are typically used in such treatments, can only be obtained through the destruction of a human embryo, a process that breeds concern surrounding the sanctity and rights of early human life [4].

Image available at: https://bioinformant.com/what-are-stem-cells/ (accessed: 09/03/25)

Whilst many believe using a potential human life in this manner is unethical, I can’t help but wonder if denying somebody a better quality of life that could be so easily provided is just as cruel. How would you feel if a cure to something that controlled your daily life was just out of reach?

References

[1]Diabetes UK, “How Many People in the UK Have diabetes?,” Diabetes UK, 2024. https://www.diabetes.org.uk/about-us/about-the-charity/our-strategy/statistics

[2] NHS , “What is type 1 diabetes?,” nhs.uk, Nov. 31, 2024. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/type-1-diabetes/what-is-type-1-diabetes/

[3]S. K. Garg et al., “Accuracy and Safety of Dexcom G7 Continuous Glucose Monitoring in Adults with Diabetes,” Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics, vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 373–380, Jun. 2022, doi: https://doi.org/10.1089/dia.2022.0011.

[4] L. A. Cona, “Stem Cell Research Controversy: A Deep Dive (2023),” www.dvcstem.com, Sep. 14, 2023. https://www.dvcstem.com/post/stem-cell-research-controversy

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Embryonic Stem Cells: Medical Breakthroughs vs. Moral Boundaries

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What Are Embryonic Stem cells?

Stem cells have the unique ability to change into other types of cells, offering exciting possibilities for future medical treatments. The most versatile type are embryonic stem cells (ESCs), which can self-renew and are pluripotent meaning they can change into any cell type. These cells are collected from 3–5-day-old embryo called a blastocyst.

Image: A basic diagram of embryonic stem cells https://www.eurogct.org/embryonic-stem-cells-where-do-they-come-and-what-can-they-do-0

What can these cells potentially be used for?

In many diseases damaged cells cannot replace themselves. For example, after a heart attack, the body cannot replace lost heart tissue. Therefore, there’s a wide range of potential uses including treatment of Alzheimer’s, blindness, deafness, lung disease and autoimmune diseases. A key example from Shufaro and Reubinoffs paper in 2004 is in the treatment of neurological diseases like Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis, which may one day be cured by stem cells.

Stem cell treatments are not only a futuristic idea. In his book, Embryonic stem cells and the law: crafting a humane system of regulation, Joshua Weiser shares his experience with a reoccurring tumour in his leg. The removal left him with scar tissue causing him a lot of pain. Stem cells were injected to allow new tissue to grow, which was lifechanging for Joshua, relieving him of his pain.

The ethical debate

Protest outside a lab in San Diego, California, in 2002 https://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/photo-gallery-the-future-of-stem-cell-research-fotostrecke-95152.html

The prominent ethical issue of ESCs centres on when life begins, at conception, or later in development. The Catholic Church for example opposes research involving human embryonic stem cells. In a conference for the Centre for Stem cells and Regenerative Medicine, the Catholic Bishops stated that “we must protect life at all times”.  

A news article example of an ESC protest https://www.nature.com/articles/21946.pdf

This statement from an interview with the president of the Harvard stem cell institute demonstrates the opposing view: “It is important to be clear about the embryo from which stem cells are extracted. It is not implanted and growing in a woman’s uterus. It is not a foetus. It has no recognizable human features or form. It is, rather, a blastocyst, a cluster of 180 to 200 cells, growing in a petri dish, barely visible to the naked eye.”. I believe the reason this debate is so divided is because once someone’s opinion has formed it cannot be changed and often no amount of evidence will alter this.

What are the laws?

Christopher Reeve https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/christopher-reeves-story-uk-cinema-release-date-age-rating-runtime-cast-list-4844415

As opinions of ESCs are so varied, the laws can be very different worldwide. The UK has one of the most permissive set of laws with the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act (legislation.gov.uk, 2008), which allows research on fertility, contraception, gene and chromosomal abnormalities, and potential disease cures. On the other hand, some countries do not allow ESC research, for example Italy, which prohibited ESCs in 2009.  A famous advocate for stem cell research was the Superman actor Christopher Reeve, who became quadriplegic after a horse-riding accident in 1995. The US was considering banning ESCs at the time and his inspiring work helped prevent this.

What Are The Alternatives?

To avoid ethical concerns, adult stem cells can be used, but these cells are limited as they cannot produce all cell types. In 2007 induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) were first discovered by Dr Shinya Yamanaka. This video shows how these cells are made and some of the ways they are used:

 I believe whenever possible, alternatives should be prioritised. However, in cases where there are no other options, I personally believe ESCs should be used and are justified, as the potential scientific breakthroughs could save lives. That said, it is important to consider the differing beliefs and therefore ensure informed consent is gained from anyone donating embryos.

References

legislation.gov.uk (2008). Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008. [online] Legislation.gov.uk. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2008/22/contents.

Shufaro, Y. and Reubinoff, B.E. (2004). Therapeutic applications of embryonic stem cells. Best Practice & Research Clinical Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 18(6), pp.909–927. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpobgyn.2004.07.002.