Tag cancer research
A Wee Buzzed
Well, while those Ozzies are busy wasting everybody’s time trying to social network with aliens, SOMEBODY is still busy with worthwhile research like nanotechnology, or curing cancer or…CURING CANCER WITH NANOTECHNOLOGY!
Medical research into the use of bee venom as a cancer treatment has been going on for about ten years, since the original discovery that a protein called mellitin in bee venom could be genetically altered to target cancer cells, destroying them while leaving healthy cells intact.
Now, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have developed a nanotech delivery device that they refer to as “nanobees” — very tiny spheres that can be filled with mellitin and launched in “swarms” into the bloodstream. The nanobees are so small that they can easily pass through blood and attach themselves to cancerous cell membranes, “stinging” the cancer cells with the genetically-modified toxin.
So far, tests on mice have shown this technique to work in reducing tumors, and the researchers suggest that it might be possible to refine the targeting of the mellitin molecules to the biology of specific individual patients, further reducing the potential side effects of such treatments.
Take THAT you twit-heads.
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Nanobiology
Just a couple of links to share about the convergence of nanotechnology and biotechnology
There are a lot of bad tattoos in this world. I don’t get the thinking that makes people want to have them in the first place, nor why the fad has gone on as long as it has, but that’s for another day I guess. The biotech firm Draper Laboratories in Cambridge, MA has announced that they’ve developed an ink that contains nanoparticles which can sense blood glucose levels and change color to indicate the blood sugar level of a person with diabetes. The particles can be embedded in the skin like a tattoo, making it significantly easier for diabetics to monitor their blood sugar and eliminating the need for the irritating needle-pokes they must do with existing monitors. It will probably be a good ten years or so before this could actually be turned into a marketable product, due to the long time frames for medical device research and testing, but a great application of nanotech.
Of course, if you’re going to get a nanotattoo, you’ll need to make sure you don’t put it on the arm with the nanotube bionic muscles. Scientists at the University of Texas in Dallas have published their results with work on developing artificial muscles using carbon nanotubes pulled into ribbons and then twisted into bundles. When stimulated by electricity, the bundles can expand and contract like muscle tissue. There have been other efforts to make artificial muscles out of carbon nanotubes and silicon polymers previously, but these particular experiments show much greater elasticity and hardness, making the material a better candidate for use in prosthetics.
One of the major concerns as nanotechnology continues to be applied to biology and medicine is the lack of understanding about possible interactions between nano-sized objects and living tissue. Much of what is known about toxicity and long-term side effects of many substances is simply not applicable at the sub-molecular level. Much attention in the biomedical world is being given to the use of nanoparticles as drug-delivery devices particularly as a way to more effectively target cancer cells with chemo and radioactive medications without harming healthy surrounding tissue. Researchers at University of California in San Diego have developed a silicon nanoparticle that glows temporarily and then biodegrades harmlessly after a few days. These particles, combined with targeted chemotherapeutic medication, can attach themselves to tumors and cancerous cells, allowing for easier detection by doctors, without some of the lasting harmful effects of other luminescent chemicals currently in use.
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Little Tiny Trees And Bug Zappers
Yet more amazing nanotechnology to share with you today:
Researchers at Purdue University are working on creating a heat sink substrate that use “forests” of nanotubes which can dissipate the heat from electronic components more efficiently than the thermal grease that is presently used.
If you’ve opened up the chassis of your desktop PC lately, you know that the single largest object inside the case is the honking big heat sink/fan assembly that’s required to keep the computer’s processor from losing its magic smoke. In between the heat sink and the chip is a squiggle of thermal grease, usually made out of titanium, and a bit of iridium foil. The grease doesn’t last indefinitely, and the foil provides uneven contact, which doesn’t transfer heat consistently. But they’re developing a process for laying a substrate on the chip and then “growing” carbon nanotubes in high density. The tubes make better contact between the uneven surfaces and do not wear out.
Item #2 is the recent news that it may be possible to treat some cancers by injecting carbon nanotubes into cancerous growths and using radio frequency waves to excite the nanotubes, which heat up and destroy the cancer cells. The work is very preliminary, but promising.