Nanoparticles News and Research

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New MIT technology may help make cancer biomarker detection much easier

Finding ways to diagnose cancer earlier could greatly improve the chances of survival for many patients. One way to do this is to look for specific proteins secreted by cancer cells, which circulate in the bloodstream. However, the quantity of these biomarkers is so low that detecting them has proven difficult.

17 Dec 2012

ASME 2nd Global Congress on Nano-engineering for Medicine and Biology to be held in Boston

The ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) 2013 2nd Global Congress on Nano-engineering for Medicine and Biology (NEMB 2013) will be held Feb. 4-6, 2013, at the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel in Boston, Mass.

17 Dec 2012

Researchers turn light into heat on the nanoscale to trigger biochemical reactions

Since Edison's first bulb, heat has been a mostly undesirable byproduct of light. Now researchers at Rice University are turning light into heat at the point of need, on the nanoscale, to trigger biochemical reactions remotely on demand.

14 Dec 2012

Novel sensor measures individual particles in blood samples

Norwegian researchers have developed the world's first sensor capable of measuring individual particles in a blood sample. This new innovation could cause a sensation in the medical world.

7 Dec 2012

Using Nanoparticles to Target Cancer

An interview with John Stroh, discussing the development of nanoparticles that can target and treat cancer, without damaging nearby tissues.

6 Dec 2012

Nanoparticle-based drug delivery attacks cancer cells without harming normal ones

This month, Molecular Pharmaceutics reported promising findings from the Nemours Center for Childhood Cancer Research and the Materials Science and Engineering Department at the University of Delaware, about the potential for nanotechnology to deliver chemotherapeutic agents in a way that attacks cancer cells without harming healthy cells.

5 Dec 2012

Arthrobotrys oligospora produces nanoparticles that could kill tumors

Arthrobotrys oligospora doesn't live a charmed life; it survives on a diet of roundworm. But a discovery by a team led by Mingjun Zhang, an associate professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, could give the fungus's life more purpose-as a cancer fighter.

5 Dec 2012

Tufts University researchers demonstrate silk-based implantable optics

Tufts University School of Engineering researchers have demonstrated silk-based implantable optics that offer significant improvement in tissue imaging while simultaneously enabling photo thermal therapy, administering drugs and monitoring drug delivery. The devices also lend themselves to a variety of other biomedical functions.

29 Nov 2012

Vacuum-compatible Pilatus X-ray detector can now track nanoparticles

Microvesicles are smallest cell elements which are present in all body fluids and are different, depending on whether a person is healthy or sick. This could contribute to detecting numerous diseases, such as, e.g., carcinomas, at an early stage, and to treating them more efficiently. The problem is that the diameter of the relevant microvesicles generally lies below 100 nm, which makes them technically detectable, but their exact size and concentration hardly possible to determine. A new device is now to provide the metrological basis for these promising biomarkers.

29 Nov 2012

UNSW-developed nanoparticle could improve effectiveness of chemotherapy for neuroblastoma

In a world-first, researchers from the Australian Centre for Nanomedicine at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney have developed a nanoparticle that could improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy for neuroblastoma by a factor of five.

21 Nov 2012

New polymer nanoparticles can generate heat and kill colorectal cancer cells

Researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have modified electrically-conductive polymers, commonly used in solar energy applications, to develop revolutionary polymer nanoparticles (PNs) for a medical application. When the nanoparticles are exposed to infrared light, they generate heat that can be used to kill colorectal cancer cells.

21 Nov 2012

BRIGHTs bind to biomarkers of disease and light up to reveal their location

Called BRIGHTs, the tiny probes described in the online issue of Advanced Materials on Nov. 15, bind to biomarkers of disease and, when swept by an infrared laser, light up to reveal their location.

21 Nov 2012

New solar steam method from Rice University

Rice University scientists have unveiled a revolutionary new technology that uses nanoparticles to convert solar energy directly into steam. The new "solar steam" method from Rice's Laboratory for Nanophotonics (LANP) is so effective it can even produce steam from icy cold water.

20 Nov 2012

New nanoparticle halts relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis in mouse model

In a breakthrough for nanotechnology and multiple sclerosis, a biodegradable nanoparticle turns out to be the perfect vehicle to stealthily deliver an antigen that tricks the immune system into stopping its attack on myelin and halt a model of relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) in mice, according to new Northwestern Medicine research.

19 Nov 2012

New gene delivery vehicle opens route to the heart of cells in solid tumors

There are plenty of effective anticancer agents around. The problem is that, very often, they cannot gain access to all the cells in solid tumors. A new gene delivery vehicle may provide a way of making tracks to the heart of the target.

15 Nov 2012

Cancer metastasis research facilitated by nanoparticle characterization technology from NanoSight

NanoSight, leading manufacturers of unique nanoparticle characterization technology, reports on the breakthrough cancer metastasis research of Dr. Hector Peinado Selgas and Dr. David Lyden's research team from Weill Cornell Medical College.

13 Nov 2012

WU researchers to study blood-clotting disorders

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received a $9 million grant to investigate blood-clotting disorders. From heart attacks and strokes to uncontrolled bleeding, clotting disorders cause more deaths each year in the United States than all types of cancer combined.

7 Nov 2012

Gene silencing technology used to fight RSV and influenza

New hope has arrived for the fight against two deadly viral infections, RSV and influenza, as Griffith researchers prepare to develop a cutting-edge approach to treatment delivery.

6 Nov 2012

Researchers show how ingesting too much silver can cause argyria

Researchers from Brown University have shown for the first time how ingesting too much silver can cause argyria, a rare condition in which patients' skin turns a striking shade of grayish blue.

31 Oct 2012

Nano-reinforced plastics improve friction resistance of orthodontics

Brackets made from clear plastic polymer used in dental correction orthodontics have produced very good results in recent years, especially in relation to the improved esthetics when compared to metal brackets, but they do present certain problems of wear and tear within the mouth.

29 Oct 2012