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Biodegradable Nanoballs To Deliver Drugs Directly To Cancer Cells

Mihai AndreibyMihai Andrei
October 26, 2007 - Updated on October 29, 2007
in Genetics, Research
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nanotechnology


Nanotech is a very young science. It reffers to a field of applied science and technology whose unifying theme is the control of matter on the atomic and molecular scale, normally 1 to 100 nanometers, and the fabrication of devices within that size range. A meter is 1 000 000 000 times bigger than a nanometer so it is easy to understand why nanotechnology made itself noticeable just years ago.The uses for nanotechnology are vaste and cover about every field there is. From architecture to medicine nanotechnology could give us the edge we need in these hard times. Treating cancer could be near us because of it. Dutch researcher Cristianne Rijcken has developed a new type of biodegradable nanoparticle. This nanoparticle is a pherical structure which is able to encapsulate various fat-soluble medicines, which makes it easier to target tumour tissue. This could be a very big step forward in the controlled release of anticancer drugs.That is because numerous such anticancer drugs have bad side effects because they are not able to tell the infected tissue from the healthy tissue. By encapsulating these drugs in such a nanoparticle means you get a better chance of it going in the infected tissue. Due to the biodegradable nature of the nanoparticles, the drug is only released once the particles break down. They are made up of polyethylene glycol (PEG) chains which are attached to recently developed components: lactic acid derivatives of polymethacrylamides. These chains are heat sensitive and biodegradabile.They did good in mice tests so further research is going to be made as it is needed to determine the blood circulation and tumour accumulation of drug-containing micelles. This is very important because the development of new components as building blocks for the nanoparticles will allow an even more accurate regulation of the specificity and drug release. More and more scientists are embracing the field of nanotechnology and this is going to make this field be more and more important; and the nanobots are a part of more and more movies. It is nice to see some nanotechnology investments. There are numerous nanotechnology consultants and not few people are familiar with the term of nanotechnology consulting.

Tags: nanotechnology

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Mihai Andrei

Mihai Andrei

Dr. Andrei Mihai is a geophysicist and founder of ZME Science. He has a Ph.D. in geophysics and archaeology and has completed courses from prestigious universities (with programs ranging from climate and astronomy to chemistry and geology). He is passionate about making research more accessible to everyone and communicating news and features to a broad audience.

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