Scientists at Penn State University have, in a major breakthrough for nanotechnology, successfully controlled nanomotors in living human cells.

It’s a breakthrough because earlier versions of nanomotors ran on toxic fuels and, while we’re no experts, we guess that was bad for the cells involved.

These nanomotors are tiny rod-shaped bits of tech that are propelled via ultrasonic waves and steered with magnets. Researcher Tom Mallouk foresees great things from the tech, as it can be potentially used to “to treat cancer and other diseases by mechanically manipulating cells from the inside.”

Once the nanomotors are in a living cell, they can pulverize the cell’s contents like an “egg beater” or just pierce the cell’s membrane. This allows for very specific attacks on certain cells, and the best thing about these nanomotors is the fact that they can move independently, instead of a “whole mass of them going in one direction.”