Nanotechnology, generally speaking, is a broad field of technology concerned with the engineering of new materials at the molecular level. So far it has given us such mundane consumer products as stain-resistant clothing and sunscreen (a hotly debated application), but promises to revolutionize building materials and medicine in the not-too-distant future.
More recently, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have used nanoparticles to eliminate cancerous ovarian tumors in mice. Ovarian cancer is an especially deadly disease that kills about 15,000 women annually.
Think Fantastic Voyage, only without the tiny submarine carrying even tinier people, as the very real technology employs the use of microscopic “machines” to target therapies right where they’re needed.
The nanoparticles are made of positively charged, biodegradable polymers, according to the MIT press release: “When mixed together, these polymers can spontaneously assemble with DNA to form nanoparticles. The polymer-DNA nanoparticle can deliver functional DNA when injected into or near the targeted tissue.”
The targeted genes produce a toxin that interferes with a cancerous cell’s ability to create proteins and thus stops its growth and causes it to shrink. Chemotherapy is unable to differentiate between healthy and cancerous cells, so it often destroys perfectly good tissue and causes horrible side effects. This and other new nanotechnology-based therapies could one day replace chemotherapy, since they are able to target only abnormal cells.
According to an article published by Computerworld, researchers hope to some day use nanoparticles to treat prostrate, brain, lung and liver cancers, as well as viral infections.
Image courtesy of MIT.