MOsanthrope

Posted by Chris on April 12, 2006 at 12:46 pm.

Researchers at MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have found a way to use nanotechnology to target cancer cells while leaving healthy cells intact:

“A single injection of our nanoparticles completely eradicated the tumors in five of the seven treated animals, and the remaining animals also had a significant tumor reduction, compared to the controls,” said Dr. Omid Farokhzad, assistant professor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

While all the parts of this new delivery system are known to be safe, it must still be proven safe for humans. The scientists said that further testing is needed on larger animals, and eventually in humans.

* * *

To make sure that only the correct cells are hit, the nanoparticles are “decorated” on the outside with targeting molecules called aptamers, or tiny chunks of genetic material.

Like homing devices, the aptamers specifically recognize the surface molecules on cancer cells, while avoiding normal cells.

(Via Chris Christner’s Blog).

Filed under: Technology, Science, U.S., Health, Medicine