http://www.physorg.com/nanotech-news/bio-medicine/ en-us PhysOrg.com provides the latest news on nanobiology, nano medicine, nanotechnology, nanoscience, and nanotech. Eric Shaqfeh studies blood at Stanford University, using computer models that simulate how the fluid and the cells it contains move around. On November 11 at a meeting of the scientific society AVS, he will present his latest unpublished findings from two studies. One shows how components in blood line up to prepare for healing; the other demonstrates the best shape to use for man-made nanoparticles that target cancers -- a surfboard. http://www.physorg.com/news176994180.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:03:40 EST news176994180 (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 Tiny, engineered nanomaterials can already be found in many consumer products, and have been hailed as having widespread future uses in areas ranging from medicine to industrial processes. However, little is known about what happens if these nanomaterials get into your body - where do they go? NC State researchers are working to answer that question under a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). http://www.physorg.com/news176387909.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:50:04 EST news176387909 (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 Scientists in Switzerland are reporting results of one of the first studies on the release of silver nanoparticles from laundering those anti-odor, anti-bacterial socks now on the market. Their findings, scheduled for the Nov. 1 issue of ACS' journal Environmental Science & Technology, may suggest ways that manufacturers and consumers can minimize the release of these particles to the environment, where they could harm fish and other wildlife. http://www.physorg.com/news175948672.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:38:30 EST news175948672 (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 The biological safety of nanotechnology, in other words, how the body reacts to nanoparticles, is a hot topic. Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have managed for the first time to carry out successful experiments involving the injection of so-called 'nanowires.' http://www.physorg.com/news175425344.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:30:01 EST news175425344 With potential adverse health and environmental effects often in the news about nanotechnology, scientists in Arkansas are reporting that carbon nanotubes (CNTs) could have beneficial effects in agriculture. http://www.physorg.com/news175351519.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:46:52 EST news175351519 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 Writing in a forthcoming issue of the International Journal of Nanotechnology, Canadian engineers suggest that research is needed into the risks associated with the growing field of nanotechnology manufacture so that appropriate protective equipment can be developed urgently. http://www.physorg.com/news174662290.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:30:05 EST news174662290 Researchers at Oregon State University and other institutions have developed a new "plasmonic nanorod metamaterial" using extraordinarily tiny rods of gold that will have important applications in medical, biological and chemical sensors. http://www.physorg.com/news174651275.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:16:09 EST news174651275 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 Clemson bioengineer Frank Alexis is designing new ways to target drugs and reduce the chances for side effects. http://www.physorg.com/news174219683.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:00:02 EST news174219683 (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 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today outlined a new research strategy to better understand how manufactured nanomaterials may harm human health and the environment. Nanomaterials are materials that are between approximately one and 100 nanometers. These materials are currently used in hundreds of consumer products, including sunscreen, cosmetics and sports equipment. http://www.physorg.com/news173453869.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:50:01 EST news173453869 Nanotechnology and synthetic biology continue to develop as two of the most exciting areas of scientific discovery, but research has shown that the public is almost completely unaware of the science and its applications. A groundbreaking poll of 1,001 American adults conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates and the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN) found that 90 percent of Americans think the public should be better informed about the development of cutting-edge technologies. http://www.physorg.com/news173445237.html Nanotechnology - Bio & Medicine Tue, 29 Sep 2009 12:30:01 EST news173445237 (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