Nanoparticles

We have seen how gold nanoparticles can fight cancer in a number of ways, but they aren’t without their problems. Scientists in Japan have found a solution to one of these drawbacks, through the careful addition of a ring-shaped synthetic compound.

Osteoarthritis is a painful and fairly common condition that’s hard to slow, so treatment options are mostly limited to reducing pain. But a new study in mice has now found that nanotherapeutic injections into the knee can slow cartilage degradation.

A new study led by researchers from University College London suggests that combining traditional chemotherapy with an experimental therapy that uses magnetic nanoparticles to heat tumor cells could significantly enhance the efficacy of both treatments.

Ordinarily, epoxies are cured by exposure to either heat or ultraviolet light. Both have their drawbacks, which are nicely avoided by a new epoxy that hardens when passed through a magnetic field to produce a similar bond using a fraction of the energy.

Killing cancer cells isn’t too hard – the tricky part is doing so without harming healthy cells. Now researchers have developed nanoparticles that selectively release drugs inside tumors, while keeping them safely locked away when in healthy cells.

Pesticides may indeed kill plant pathogens, but they're also harmful to the environment. Newly developed nanoparticles may provide a more eco-friendly alternative, as they boost the immune systems of crop plants, then harmlessly dissolve.

Researchers have developed a way to treat male infertility by delivering nanoparticles loaded with proteins directly into the testes. In tests in mice, previously infertile animals were soon able to father pups at a similar rate as unaffected mice.

Researchers in India have taken an impressive step forward with efforts to tackle cancer using magnetic nanoparticles, working the technology into a bandage that proved capable of killing skin cancer cells in experiments on mice.

“Trojan horse” approaches use all kinds of trickery to sneak drugs into cancer cells to kill them off, but scientists are putting forward another solution, demonstrating how a new drug-free nanoparticle can do the heavy lifting on its own.

Gold has shown promise in fighting cancer in many studies, and now researchers have found a way to grow gold nanoparticles inside cancer cells within 30 minutes. From there, the gold can help with imaging and even be heated up to kill the tumors.

Adding “two-faced” nanoparticles could improve paints and coatings. With one face that attracts water and another that repels it, the particles arranged themselves in a flat layer on a painted surface and could make for paint with unusual properties.

Although cavities are caused by bacteria, simply killing all of the bacteria in the mouth isn't a good idea, as some of them have beneficial effects. A nanoparticle coating, however, could someday prevent cavities without harming bacteria.