This work presents an evaluation of Magnetotactic Bacteria’s (MTB) response to fluidic stressors. MTB have been previously proven to demonstrate great potential as carriers for therapeutic agents within the human body. Current research has found that MTB are able to survive in many environments and demonstrated their ability to travel through micro-vessels while under both flow and viscous stress. To investigate MTB survival in the human body, microfluidic platforms were used to model the environmental stressors the bacteria would encounter if introduced to the blood stream. While a range of responses from injury to stress were observed, the bacteria were able to maintain a level of motility compatible with their use in drug delivery. Three stressors were used in this study:​ sodium bicarbonate, sodium carbonate and citric acid.

The MTB responded differently to each stressor and concentration. High concentrations of sodium bicarbonate resulted in reduced speed but continued magnetotacitc ability indicating an injury response, introduction of sodium carbonate resulted in an increased speed and decreased magnetotactic ability indicating a stress response, and introduction of citric acid resulted in spikes of speed and consistent magnetotactic ability indicating a mixed stress and injury response. While the MTB exhibited an injury response in some conditions, they maintained motility and magnetotactic ability throughout the trials. The results of this study indicate that MTB have the necessary survivability required for introduction to the human body.