Hybrid DNA nanotubes fight cancer

Filed in archive Medical on December 10, 2005

At the nanoscale, the boundary between the natural and artificial often blurs, leading to hybrid materials that cross the border between living and non-living substances. And while these hybrid biomaterials may play the villains in some science fiction films, they also have incredible power to heal. That' s the motivation behind research at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where nanoscientists recently succeeded in grafting' DNA-based enzymes onto carbon nanotube frames. The resulting hybrid structure enables the DNA to hitch a ride on the carbon nanotube for delivery to individual cells in the body. These " RNA-Degrading Nano-Enzymes " may play a key role in the fight against cancer, acting to block the production of proteins a cancer cell needs to grow. more @ physorg.com