Richard Gunasekera鈥檚 cancer research isn鈥檛 just cutting-edge; it鈥檚 drilling-edge.

The Biola scientist is part of a team of researchers who are making advances in using 鈥渘anomachines鈥� to drill holes into cancer cells and drug-resistant bacteria. Over the past few years, the researchers have successfully experimented with programming motorized molecules to target and destroy harmful cells in a laboratory setting 鈥� a discovery that could hold promise for eventual treatment in humans, he said.

鈥淭hese little molecules can be activated to rotate at 2 to 3 million revolutions per second with a particular light, and we鈥檙e able to target specific types of cells,鈥� explained Gunasekera, associate dean of academic and research affairs in Biola鈥檚 School of Science, Technology and Health.

The 鈥渕achines鈥� are actually organic molecules that are synthesized mainly from carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, and they鈥檙e so small that about 50,000 can fit across the diameter of a human hair, Gunasekera said. The original concepts for this technology was pioneered over a period of decades by a trio of scientists who won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work. However, Gunasekera鈥檚 work 鈥� conducted in partnership with James Tour, a renowned chemist at Rice University who is inventing these nanomolecules 鈥� involves exploring the applications of the technology for biomedical uses for the first time.

In 2017, Tour and fellow team members published an initial study in Nature that detailed their work in killing various types of cancer cells and acknowledged Gunasekera鈥檚 work. Gunasekera co-authored a follow-up study in May 2019 in the American Chemical Society journal ACS Nano that reported further advances in the breast cancer-targeting research.

More recently, Gunasekera and colleague Don Galbadage, associate professor of public health at Biola, have been experimenting with the technology on 鈥渟uperbugs鈥� that have grown resistant to antibiotic drugs. Compared to cancer cells, which only have a thin cell membrane that are easier to puncture, Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteria have a three-layer cell wall, making them more difficult to kill.

鈥淲e experimented on millions of cells, and we found that the nanomachines were not killing all of the bacteria 鈥� only about 40%,鈥� Gunasekera said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 great that they鈥檙e killing that many, but that鈥檚 not going to cure anybody. They鈥檙e still going to be sick. So at that point we said, 鈥楲et鈥檚 add the drug (Meropenem) and see what it鈥檚 able to do.鈥� And voila, 95% of them were killed. That was a big deal.鈥�

In essence, the nanomachines had damaged the resistant bacteria walls enough for the previously ineffective antibiotics to get in and finish them off, Gunasekera said. The Biola professors鈥� research was published in ACS Nano in December 2019.

In February 2020, Gunasekera and Galbadage co-authored yet another paper in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, detailing use of the nanodrills in vivo for the first time in model experimental species such as worms, plankton and mice.

Gunasekera, who earned a Ph.D. in biochemical genetics from Baylor University, came to Biola in 2018 with more than 20 years of higher education and industry experience. In addition to founding the biological sciences department at the University of Houston-Victoria, he held faculty and research positions at Rice, Texas A&M University Health Science Center and the University of Houston-Clear Lake.

Part of the appeal of coming to Biola, he said, is his ability to openly integrate his faith with his scientific pursuits. He鈥檚 able to more openly talk about the scientific evidence that clearly points to the existence of a designer, he said.

鈥淕od was directing me to do science with the design component, where I could have the freedom to do it, rather than doing it at secular universities where I would have to be silent with the evidence of my observations,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his seemed to be where God really wanted me to be. It鈥檚 really a calling and it鈥檚 a privilege to be at Biola.鈥�

In his role as associate dean, he provides leadership and support to faculty and works to develop greater research opportunities and partnerships. With the Lim Center 鈥� a new state-of-the-art facility 鈥� and professors with doctoral degrees from leading institutions such as UCLA, USC, Johns Hopkins, Yale and more, Biola is doing impressive and innovative work in the sciences, he said.

鈥淲e all want the community at large to know that Biola is playing hardball 鈥� with serious science,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to be the best-kept secret.鈥�

鈥� Jason Newell