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March 28, 2006
Nanoparticles May Be Future of Cancer Care
Extremely small, custom-designed nanoparticles show promise in improving cancer diagnosis and treatment, researchers report.
Researchers at the University of North Carolina said the nanoparticles may enable a more targeted and effective delivery of anticancer drugs than current treatments and have the potential to reduce side effects associated with chemotherapy. The nanoparticles are designed at the molecular level to attack specific kinds of cancer without harming healthy cells.
"I think this will transform the way one detects and treats cancer," study leader Joseph DeSimone, UNC chemistry professor and director of the school's Institute for Advanced Materials, Nanoscience and Technology, said in a prepared statement.
The new custom nanoparticles are the most uniform, shape-specific drug delivery particles developed to date, the researchers said. In cell studies, they were able to attach to specific cell targets, release chemotherapy drugs inside cells, and also hold MRI contrast agents.
Nanotechnology and nanoparticles continue to be an evolving area of opportunity in cancer care. Nanotechnology deals with the creation and use of materials or devices at the level of molecules and atoms that are 1/1000th the width of a human hair--too small to be seen with a conventional laboratory microscope.
(Click the picture below to see a mite next to a gear set produced using MEMS,the precursor to nanotechnology. NUTS MAN!!!) 
Nanotechnology is changing the way materials and devices will be made in the future. With the ability to build products and devices atom-by-atom and molecule-by-molecule, according to the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI)--a federal research and development program--scientists will create new classes of structural materials that are expected to bring about lighter, stronger, smarter, cheaper, cleaner, and more precise products.
To learn more about nanotechnology visit: National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) or Wikipedia's Nanotechnology Page.
Posted by chooseto at 11:05 AM | Comments (0)