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Supramolecular chemistry on water-soluble carbon nanotubes for drug loading and delivery

In the quest to turn carbon nanotubes from nanoscale wonder into clinically useful drug and imaging agent delivery agents, researchers have often added polymer coatings to the outside of the nanotubes in order to render them biocompatible.

27 Sep 2007

Gold nanorods coated with multilayer polyelectrolyte as contrast agents for multimodal imaging

A growing body of research has demonstrated that gold nanorods can serve as extremely bright imaging agents.

27 Sep 2007

Organically modified silica nanoparticles with covalently incorporated photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy of cancer

Photodynamic therapy, in which light activates a chemical known as a photosensitizer, triggering the production of cell-killing reactive oxygen, has proven itself as an effective therapy for a limited number of cancers.

27 Sep 2007

Scientists produce equivalent of test-tube inner ear hair cells

Birds, fish and amphibians can do something that humans and other mammals generally cannot: re-grow damaged or lost inner ear hair cells.

27 Sep 2007

Variation in drug responses can be analyzed by studying simpler organisms like plants

While prescription medications work successfully to cure an ailment in some people, in others the same dose of the same drug can cause an adverse reaction or no response at all.

27 Sep 2007

Mice teeth explain the troubles with human wisdom teeth

During evolution, many of a species' properties are shaped by ecological interactions.

27 Sep 2007

Snake venom composition may change according to the victim

A snake's intended prey might affect the type and evolution of toxins in their venom, research published in the online open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology shows.

27 Sep 2007

Public awareness of nanotech stuck at low level

National survey findings released indicate that Americans' awareness of nanotechnology remains low.

26 Sep 2007

What gives us sunburn protects crayfish against bacteria

The production of melanin gives us sunburns, but it also helps invertebrate animals to encapsulate attacking fungi and parasites.

25 Sep 2007

Viewing dye-packed vesicles causes them to explode

It's a long-standing question: Can just the act of observing an experiment affect the results, According to a new study by Rockefeller University scientists, if the experiment uses a fluorescent dye called acridine orange, the answer is a resounding yes."

25 Sep 2007

Scientists capture first optical images of carbon nanotubes inside a living organism

Using fruit flies, the researchers confirmed that a technique developed at Rice -- near-infrared fluorescent imaging -- was capable of detecting DNA-sized nanotubes inside living fruit flies.

25 Sep 2007

The cell size problem

For more than 100 years, scientists have tried to figure out the cell size problem: How does a cell know when it is big enough to divide?

25 Sep 2007

How do we choose our mates?

For quite some time now, scientists suspect that it is not for looks or fashion, neither for love or sympathy.

25 Sep 2007

Social cheating in bacterial communication

Baseball had its steroids and Black Sox. Politics lived through Watergate. Wall Street has been riddled with insider trading scandals. And before we cast the first stone, who among us has never tried to get through an intersection on a yellow light?

25 Sep 2007

Scientists study the spread of ragweed pollen

To a person with a pollen allergy, an 18-acre ragweed field sounds like a sneezy, red-eyed zone of misery. But to two environmental engineering researchers at Johns Hopkins, the parcel presented a rare and valuable opportunity to learn how the troublesome weeds grow, reproduce and scatter their pollen under varying weather conditions.

24 Sep 2007