Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Stealthy Nanoparticles Attack Cancer Cells

Image: Cancer killers: Drug-laden nanoparticles (shown in pink) developed by BIND Biosciences have accumulated in a prostate-cancer cell (shown in green; cell nucleus in blue). The particles were designed to target prostate cancer cells. Scientists hope such particles will reduce side effects associated with chemotherapy. Credit: BIND Biosciences

From Technology Review:

Drugs embedded in special polymers can more effectively shrink tumors.

In a small manufacturing space on a Cambridge, MA, street dotted with biotech companies, Greg Troiano tinkers with a series of gleaming metal vats interweaved with plastic tubes. The vats are designed to violently shake a mix of chemicals into precise nanostructures, and Troiano's task, as head of process development at start-up BIND Biosciences, is to make kilograms of the stuff--a novel drug-infused nanoparticle. The company hopes the new drug-delivery system will diminish the side effects of chemotherapy while increasing its effectiveness in killing cancer.

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