A Promising Use For Nanotech

[Annie]

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=31091

Nanowires for detecting molecular signs of cancer
24 Sep 2005
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Harvard University researchers have found that molecular markers indicating the presence of cancer in the body are readily detected in blood scanned by special arrays of silicon nanowires -- even when these cancer markers constitute only one hundred-billionth of the protein present in a drop of blood. In addition to this exceptional accuracy and sensitivity, the minuscule devices also promise to pinpoint the exact type of cancer present with a speed not currently available to clinicians.

A paper describing the work will appear in October in the journal Nature Biotechnology and is now posted on the journal's web site.

"This is one of the first applications of nanotechnology to healthcare and offers a clinical technique that is significantly better than what exists today," says author Charles M. Lieber, Mark Hyman Jr. Professor of Chemistry in Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences. "A nanowire array can test a mere pinprick of blood in just minutes, providing a nearly instantaneous scan for many different cancer markers. It's a device that could open up substantial new possibilities in the diagnosis of cancer and other complex diseases."

Lieber and his colleagues linked slender nanowires conducting a small current with antibody receptors for certain cancer markers -- such as prostate specific antigen (PSA), PSA-a1-antichymotrypsin, carcinoembryonic antigen and mucin-1. When these telltale proteins come into contact with a receptor, it sparks a momentary change in conductance that gives a clear indication of the marker's presence. The detectors differentiate among various cancer markers both through the specific receptors used to snag them and because each binds its receptor for a characteristic length of time before dislodging.

"Our results show that these devices are able to distinguish among molecules with near-perfect selectivity," Lieber says, adding that the risk of false readings is minimized by the incorporation of various control nanowires.

The scientists also fitted some nanowires in the arrays with nucleic acid receptors for telomerase, an enzyme inactive in most of the body's somatic cells but active in at least 80 percent of known human cancers. In testing of extracts from as few as 10 tumor cells, these receptors allowed real-time monitoring of telomerase binding and activity.

Lieber says nanowire arrays could easily be scaled up to detect many different cancer markers -- more of which are being found all the time, thanks to the current boom in proteomics. Widespread use of these cancer markers in healthcare will ultimately depend upon the development of techniques that allow rapid detection of many markers with high selectivity and sensitivity....

 

[Hagbard Celine]

My old Chinese roommate used to work in this field. Eventually, they'll be able to inject these machines into your body to fix all types of problems. They'll be able to program them to seek out certain types of cells, repair damaged tissue and even destroy blockages in brain tissue or blood vessels.

 

[pegwinn]

NanoTech is cool. It will represent a quantum change in how we think of tech. Kinda like the integrated circuts did in the sixties and seventies.

Check this out. It's kind of on target with the Nano and cancer theme.

Y'all have a great day.

 

[Annie]

NanoTech is cool. It will represent a quantum change in how we think of tech. Kinda like the integrated circuts did in the sixties and seventies.

Check this out. It's kind of on target with the Nano and cancer theme.

Y'all have a great day.

It looks like close to the same as Harvard's, I think a race is on...