More medicines may be developed faster in the near future, thanks to new technology that harnesses the tiny particles that make drug development possible.

Microorganisms grown in laboratories have been the starting point for many medicines we have today. However, many more microorganisms exist in nature that can't be grown in a lab because they are too small, too fragile, or evolve too rapidly. Also, microbes grown in culture behave differently than those extracted from the natural world, and are more limited in their ability to perform the chemical reactions that lead to drug discovery and product development.