http://www.physorg.com/nanotech-news/bio-medicine/ en-us PhysOrg.com provides the latest news on nanobiology, nano medicine, nanotechnology, nanoscience, and nanotech. Tiny magnetic discs just a millionth of a metre in diameter could be used to used to kill cancer cells, according to a study published on Sunday. http://www.physorg.com/news178725200.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Sun, 29 Nov 2009 13:59:24 EST news178725200 (PhysOrg.com) -- By producing some of the highest resolution images of peptides attaching to mineral surfaces, scientists have a deeper understanding how biomolecules manipulate the growth crystals. This research may lead to a new treatment for kidney stones using biomolecules. http://www.physorg.com/news178212559.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:29:56 EST news178212559 (PhysOrg.com) -- One of the great promises of nanotechnologies lies in its ability to create drug-containing nanoparticles decorated with targeting molecules that recognize and bind to cancer cells, providing drug delivery only at the site of the targeted cells. Such site-specific drug delivery would not only boost the cancer-killing activity of a drug payload but also reduce potential side effects by greatly restricting or even eliminating the amount of drug reaching healthy tissue. http://www.physorg.com/news177922936.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:40:05 EST news177922936 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have developed a polymer-coated gold nanocage that not only opens in response to light to release a small amount of a drug payload, but then closes when the light is turned off, leaving this nanodevice ready to deliver another dose of drug on command. Releasing carefully titrated amounts of a drug only near the tissue that is the drug's intended target, this delivery system has the potential to maximize a drug's beneficial effects while minimizing its side effects. http://www.physorg.com/news177875527.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:40:01 EST news177875527 (PhysOrg.com) -- A team of Northwestern University researchers, using an extremely sensitive nanotechnology-based tool known as the biobarcode system, has detected previously undetectable levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in patients who have undergone radical prostatectomy. This new assay, just one of many being developed by investigators at the Nanomaterials for Cancer Diagnostics and Therapeutics Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence (Northwestern CCNE), is 300 times more sensitive than commercially available PSA tests. http://www.physorg.com/news177775224.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:50:01 EST news177775224 If you're watching the complex processes in a living cell, it is easy to miss something important -especially if you are watching changes that take a long time to unfold and require high-spatial-resolution imaging. But new research makes it possible to scrutinize activities that occur over hours or even days inside cells, potentially solving many of the mysteries associated with molecular-scale events occurring in these tiny living things. http://www.physorg.com/news177763702.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:00:03 EST news177763702 (PhysOrg.com) -- Searching for biomarkers that can warn of diseases such as cancer while they are still in their earliest stage is likely to become far easier thanks to an innovative biosensor chip developed by Stanford University researchers. The sensor is up to 1,000 times more sensitive than any technology now in clinical use, is accurate regardless of which bodily fluid is being analyzed, and can detect biomarker proteins over a range of concentrations three times broader than any existing method, the researchers say. http://www.physorg.com/news177705280.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:38:02 EST news177705280 Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles, found in everything from cosmetics to sunscreen to paint to vitamins, caused systemic genetic damage in mice, according to a comprehensive study conducted by researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. http://www.physorg.com/news177608158.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:36:25 EST news177608158 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at Purdue University have discovered a new approach for repairing damaged nerve fibers in spinal cord injuries using nano-spheres that could be injected into the blood shortly after an accident. http://www.physorg.com/news176908863.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:22:11 EST news176908863 (PhysOrg.com) -- About five years ago, Professor Janet Sawicki at the Lankenau Institute in Pennsylvania read an article about nanoparticles developed by MIT's Robert Langer for gene therapy, the insertion of genes into living cells for the treatment of disease. Sawicki was working on treating ovarian cancer by delivering -- through viruses -- the gene for the diphtheria toxin, which kills tumor cells. http://www.physorg.com/news176720244.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:58:32 EST news176720244 (PhysOrg.com) -- Whether it's magnetic nanoparticles (mNPs) giving an army of 'therapeutically armed' white blood cells direction to invade a deadly tumour's territory, or the use of mNPs to target specific nerve channels and induce nerve-led behaviour (such as the life-dependant thumping of our hearts), mNPs have come a long way in the past decade. http://www.physorg.com/news176702544.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:03:35 EST news176702544 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have shown in the laboratory that metal nanoparticles damaged the DNA in cells on the other side of a cellular barrier. The research, by the University of Bristol, is published online this week in Nature Nanotechnology. http://www.physorg.com/news176657350.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:20:02 EST news176657350 (PhysOrg.com) -- Cancer cells, like bacteria, can develop resistance to drug therapy, leading to relapse of disease. One approach showing promise in overcoming multidrug resistance in tumors is to combine two different anticancer agents in one nanoscale construct, providing a one-two punch that can prove lethal to such resistant cells. An example of this approach appears in the journal Small. http://www.physorg.com/news176541150.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:12:55 EST news176541150 (PhysOrg.com) -- A team of investigators from the University of Toronto have used nanomaterials to develop an inexpensive microchip sensitive enough to quickly determine the type and severity of a patient's cancer so that the disease can be detected earlier for more effective treatment. Their work, reported in two papers published in the journals ACS Nano and Nature Nanotechnology, could herald an era when inexpensive yet sophisticated molecular diagnostics will become commonplace. http://www.physorg.com/news176464240.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:52:55 EST news176464240 (PhysOrg.com) -- Going smaller could bring better results, especially when it comes to cancer-fighting drugs. http://www.physorg.com/news176196750.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Sat, 31 Oct 2009 08:41:11 EST news176196750 Colonoscopy represents one of the great weapons against cancer. In one step, a physician can find precancerous lesions in the colon and then cut them out, an on-the-spot intervention that prevents cancer from developing. Now, researchers at the Winthrop Rockefeller Cancer Institute and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences have developed another fiber optic technique that can detect lymph node metastases and destroy them on the spot, an action that could prevent the further spread of breast cancer, melanoma, or gastrointestinal cancer, all of which spread through the lymphatic system. http://www.physorg.com/news176116481.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:15:06 EST news176116481 Many medical conditions, such as cancer, diabetes and chronic pain, require medications that cannot be taken orally, but must be dosed intermittently, on an as-needed basis, over a long period of time. A few delivery techniques have been developed, using an implanted heat source, an implanted electronic chip or other stimuli as an "on-off" switch to release the drugs into the body. But thus far, none of these methods can reliably do all that's needed: repeatedly turn dosing on and off, deliver consistent doses and adjust doses according to the patient's need. But now, a research team led by Daniel Kohane of Children's Hospital Boston has devised a solution that combines magnetism with nanotechnology. http://www.physorg.com/news176116233.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:11:06 EST news176116233 (PhysOrg.com) -- Cisplatin is one of the most powerful and effective drugs for treating a wide variety of cancers, but serious side effects ultimately limit the drug's use and effectiveness. Now, however, researchers have developed a nanoparticulate formulation of cisplatin that may be able to eliminate or reduce platinum-associated toxicity while boosting cisplatin's tumor-killing activity. http://www.physorg.com/news176060990.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:50:19 EST news176060990 Scientists in California are reporting development of a new generation of the microcapsules used in carbon-free copy paper, in which capsules burst and release ink with pressure from a pen. The new microcapsules burst when exposed to light, releasing their contents in ways that could have wide-ranging commercial uses from home and personal care to medicine. Their study appears in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. http://www.physorg.com/news175953070.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:51:49 EST news175953070 (PhysOrg.com) -- Carbon nanotubes are being considered for use in everything from sports equipment to medical applications, but a great deal remains unknown about whether these materials cause respiratory or other health problems. Now a collaborative study from North Carolina State University, The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences shows that inhaling these nanotubes can affect the outer lining of the lung, though the effects of long-term exposure remain unclear. http://www.physorg.com/news175702180.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:12:24 EST news175702180 Imagine a particle so small it would take a million of them to stretch across the period at the end of this sentence. Imagine such particles could help catch cancer cells floating in your bloodstream before they could metastasize to the liver, bones, brain or other organs. Or replace the insulin-making cells of your pancreas to cure diabetes. Or, conversely, attack the linings of your lungs with the lethality of asbestos. http://www.physorg.com/news174670932.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:20:03 EST news174670932 Searching for biomarkers that can warn of diseases such as cancer while they are still in their earliest stage is likely to become far easier thanks to an innovative biosensor chip developed by Stanford University researchers. http://www.physorg.com/news174646518.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:56:41 EST news174646518 (PhysOrg.com) -- In an effort to build a nanoscale DNA sequencer, IBM scientists are drilling nano-sized holes in computer-like chips and passing DNA strands through them in order to read the information contained within their genetic code. http://www.physorg.com/news174036343.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Tue, 06 Oct 2009 09:10:01 EST news174036343 (PhysOrg.com) -- Using computer simulations, a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers has identified some of the pathways through which single complementary strands of DNA interact and combine to form the double helix. http://www.physorg.com/news173979476.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:10:20 EST news173979476 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new portable device can detect bacteria and help prevent the spread of infectious diseases. This new tool takes from 15 minutes to 2 hours to diagnose a patient for infectious diseases and can be used in hospitals, doctor's office and at home. http://www.physorg.com/news173966720.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:06:05 EST news173966720 (PhysOrg.com) -- The increasing antibiotic resistance of bacteria is a serious problem of our time. Hospital germs in particular have developed strains against which practically every current antibiotic is ineffective. In the battle against resistant microbes, a team at the University of Münster (Germany) is now pursuing a new approach involving photodynamic therapy, which is a technique that is already being used in the treatment of certain forms of cancer and macular degeneration. http://www.physorg.com/news173954300.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:38:51 EST news173954300 Scientists working at Queen Mary, University of London, have developed micrometer-sized capsules to safely deliver drugs inside living cells. http://www.physorg.com/news173681739.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Fri, 02 Oct 2009 05:56:26 EST news173681739 (PhysOrg.com) -- Using an RNA-powered nanomotor, University of Cincinnati (UC) biomedical engineering researchers have successfully developed an artificial pore able to transmit nanoscale material through a membrane. http://www.physorg.com/news173367207.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:33:52 EST news173367207 (PhysOrg.com) -- University of Toronto researchers have used nanomaterials to develop a microchip sensitive enough to quickly determine the type and severity of a patient's cancer so that the disease can be detected earlier for more effective treatment. http://www.physorg.com/news173354979.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:11:09 EST news173354979 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at Purdue University have created magnetically responsive gold nanostars that may offer a new approach to biomedical imaging. The nanostars gyrate when exposed to a rotating magnetic field and can scatter light to produce a pulsating or "twinkling" effect. This twinkling allows them to stand out more clearly from noisy backgrounds such as those found in biological tissue. Alexander Wei, Ph.D., and Kenneth Ritchie, Ph.D., M.Sc., led the team that created the new gyromagnetic imaging method. The work appears in a paper published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. http://www.physorg.com/news173110550.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Fri, 25 Sep 2009 15:17:04 EST news173110550