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Gold nanorods injected into the bloodstream may be used to develop an advanced medical imaging tool

Researchers at Purdue University have taken a step toward developing a new type of ultra-sensitive medical imaging technique that works by shining a laser through the skin to detect tiny gold nanorods injected into the bloodstream.

25 Oct 2005

New model important step toward understanding the molecular basis of cell membrane mechanics

A human red blood cell is a dimpled ballerina, ceaselessly spinning, tumbling, bending, and squeezing through openings narrower than its width to dispense life-giving oxygen to every corner of the body.

24 Oct 2005

Mixed carbon nanotubes and standard urban particulates suggests a risk of thrombosis from airborne pollution

Carbon nanoparticles - both those unleashed in the air by engine exhaust and the engineered structures thought to have great potential in medical applications - promote blood-clotting, scientists report in an upcoming edition of the British Journal of Pharmacology.

23 Oct 2005

Deep brain stimulation can lower blood pressure

The possibility of a patient lowering their blood pressure at the flick of a switch has been raised by research led by Oxford University, which shows that stimulating parts of the brain with electrodes can change a patient’s blood pressure.

20 Oct 2005

Nanobombs to eradicate cancer

University of Delaware researchers are opening a new front in the war on cancer, bringing to bear new nanotechnologies for cancer detection and treatment and introducing a unique nanobomb that can literally blow up breast cancer tumors.

13 Oct 2005

Possibility of a continuously functioning, wearable or implantable artificial kidney

Researchers have developed a human nephron filter (HNF) that would eventually make possible a continuously functioning, wearable or implantable artificial kidney.

30 Aug 2005

Prince Charles champions alternative healthcare

According to media in the UK, Prince Charles has commissioned a report into how the government could save money by using alternative medicine in the public healthcare system.

24 Aug 2005

Electricity from urine

According to physicists in Singapore, they have created the first paper battery that generates electricity from urine.

15 Aug 2005

New laser therapy that destroys cancer cells but leaves healthy ones unharmed

Scientists at Stanford University have developed a new laser therapy that destroys cancer cells but leaves healthy ones unharmed. The new, non-invasive treatment is described in a study published in the Aug. 1 online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

2 Aug 2005

Mini-beacon design a major development for smart drug delivery

A nanoscopic beacon used by Melbourne researchers will help to enhance the design of smart gene and drug delivery systems.

1 Aug 2005

Amazing 'smart bomb' drug zaps cancer cells in mice without damaging healthy cells

Scientists say they have developed an anti-cancer 'bomb' which has a similar behavior to a Trojan horse.

28 Jul 2005

Discovery of a receptor that appears to function as one "lock" that HSV opens to allow it to enter human cells

It's one of the most common viruses in America, and one that causes the most guilt and shame. It can get inside almost any kind of human cell, reproduce in vast numbers, and linger for years in the body, causing everything from recurrent genital blisters to sores around the mouth. Its complications can kill, and it may increase susceptibility to many nerve and brain disorders.

24 Jul 2005

Role of IL-24 in regulating the immune system

Researchers at Introgen Therapeutics and their collaborators at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have published new findings on the role of IL-24 in regulating the immune system in the current online issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology.

21 Jul 2005

Startling discovery about the properties of human bone

The scientists describe their results - finding a sort of "glue" in human bone - in the cover story of the August issue of the international scientific journal, Nature Materials. The article was published on-line on July 17. It describes how healthy bone resists fracture and how unhealthy bone fractures at the molecular level.

18 Jul 2005

New understanding of degeneration of brain cells in patients with Alzheimer's, Huntington's, and Parkinson's diseases

A ground-breaking new research approach to understanding the cellular processes of Alzheimer's and other degenerative diseases has revealed a promising pathway to the development of new types of drugs for these diseases.

11 Jul 2005

A new method for manipulating macromolecules

The technique uses double-stranded DNA to direct the behavior of other molecules. In previous DNA nanotechnology efforts, duplex DNA has been used as a static lattice to construct geometrical objects in three dimensions.

29 Jun 2005

Unique arrays of proteins tethered onto self-assembled DNA nanostructures

In the fifty-year history since the structure of DNA was first revealed, what was once a Nobel prize- winning research discovery has become an omnipresent cultural icon co-opted for promoting everything from fragrances to musical acts.

20 Jun 2005

New complete muscle grown in the lab

A multinational team of researchers has grown new muscle complete with its own network of blood vessels in the laboratory, and implanted the new muscle in a living mouse. The accomplishment is a first for tissue engineering, according to a report in the June 19 issue of Nature Biotechnology.

19 Jun 2005

Nanotechnology used to smuggle a powerful chemotherapeutic drug inside tumor cells

University of Michigan scientists have created the nanotechnology equivalent of a Trojan horse to smuggle a powerful chemotherapeutic drug inside tumor cells - increasing the drug's cancer-killing activity and reducing its toxic side effects.

15 Jun 2005

Fundamental insights in how amyloid fibers form

Amyloid fibers are best known as the plaque that gunks up neurons in people with neurodegenerative illnesses such as Alzheimer's and Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease--the human analog of mad cow disease.

9 Jun 2005