Nanotechnology Tackles Cancer
What is nanotechnology? you may ask- it is technology that uses materials and devices that are built on the scale of individual molecules and it holds immense promise for the future of mankind. The ultimate results of this type of research is probably beyond the imagination of most of us, but we know that it will fundamentally alter the future. Nanotechnology in medicine will be able to offer amazing new types of treatments that are engineered to treat very specific problems and improve lives. Here is a first glimpse of what it could mean to treating cancer:
Researchers at University of California San Diego, University of California Santa Barbara and MIT have invented nanometer scale devices that they refer to as “nanoworms” which are capable of travel through the bloodstream without being stopped by the body’s immune system and—like microscopic anti-cancer missiles—attack and destroy tumors.
The research was published in the journal Advanced Materials uses devices called “nanoworms”. Physicians should eventually be able to target and reveal the location of developing tumors that are too small to detect by conventional methods. Carrying anti cancer payloads to attack specific features on tumors, these microscopic vehicles could also one day provide the means to more effectively deliver toxic anti-cancer drugs to these tumors in high concentrations without negatively impacting other parts of the body.
Problems with nanotechnology in medicine in the past, have included the issues of the immune system attacking and destroying the tiny foreign materials that are used. An important advance in these new nanomachines is their longevity: “Most nanoparticles are recognized by the body’s protective mechanisms, which capture and remove them from the bloodstream within a few minutes,” said Michael Sailor, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UC San Diego who headed the research team. “The reason these worms work so well is due to a combination of their shape and to a polymer coating on their surfaces that allows the nanoworms to evade these natural elimination processes. As a result, our nanoworms can circulate in the body of a mouse for many hours.”
“When attached to drugs, these nanoworms could offer physicians the ability to increase the efficacy of drugs by allowing them to deliver them directly to the tumors,” said Sangeeta Bhatia, a physician, bioengineer and a professor of Health Sciences and Technology at MIT who was part of the team. “They could decrease the side effects of toxic anti-cancer drugs by limiting their exposure of normal tissues and provide a better diagnosis of tumors and abnormal lymph nodes.”
Future nanotechnology developments will refine these types of drug delivery systems and make treatment of other diseases feasible. such as diabetes, heart disease, neurologic diseases and other problems. Medicine and nanotechnology are a perfect fit because the very nature of diseases that we now seek to treat must be addressed at the level of individual cells.
ref: http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/science/05-08Nanoworms.asp
