nanotech

Nanotubes and the Fight Against Cancer

Filed in archive Medical on December 19, 2008

In a new report in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, researchers at MIT explore the potential for nanotubes to "detect the quantity and status of chemotherapy drugs, toxins, and free radicals," according to DailyTech's Jason Mick.


"The new sensor could play a critical role in evaluating the success of chemotherapy treatments," Mick writes. "As most chemotherapy agents act as DNA disruptors, and can harm living cells, it is critical to see if they are successfully reaching their targets - cancer cells - and how much is accumulating in healthy cells."


"You could figure out not only where the drugs are, but whether a drug is active or not," says MIT grad student Daniel Heller, the paper's lead author.


As Reuters' Julie Steenhuysen explains, the MIT researchers "wrapped carefully shaped carbon nanotubes with DNA, which offers a binding site for DNA-damaging agents inside cells. The sensors give off a fluorescent light that can be detected in the near-infrared light spectrum. Because human tissues do not light up in this spectrum, the nanotubes stand out."


More here from Techworld ... more here from redOrbit ... more here from Scientific American ... and the press release is here.





Permalink: Nanotubes and the Fight Against Cancer

Tags: MIT  nanotubes  cancer  research  Nature  journal  DNA  sensors  chemotherapy  drugs  toxins  free  radicals  cel 

Vote for Nanotubes and the Fight Against Cancer:

  • Currently 9.50/10
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
Rating: 9.50 out of 6 vote(s) cast.
 
Share It
RSSrss
Google google
Yahoo! yahoo
Addthis Subscribe using any feed reader!
Bloglines Bloglines
TwitterFollow us on Twitter!
Most Popular   Best of   Biotech   Business   Computing & Infotech   Design   Did you know   Energy   Environment & Health   Events   Government   Information About   Institutions   Investing   Links   Materials   Medical   Military   News   Products   Quick introduction