Nanoparticles

Causing the death of cancer cells while leaving healthy ones in tact is central to the goal of safer, more effective forms of treatment for the disease, and scientists have now come up with one that leans heavily a common household item – salt.

One of humanity’s biggest threats is also the smallest – bacteria. But now, researchers at RMIT in Australia have found a new method for killing these superbugs that they can’t resist – magnetic nanoparticles that physically tear them to shreds.

A new gold-doped antibacterial nanomesh has been designed as a more effective alternative to pills or needles.

Researchers at Griffith University in Australia have used the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing system to effectively cure cervical cancer in mice.

Cancer drugs are getting more effective at killing tumors, but there’s one big problem: many work like a shotgun blast and harm healthy cells as well. Researchers from Georgia Tech have now developed a new way to deliver drugs only to where they need to be, using nanoscale “glass” bottles.

A nano-vaccine is showing promising results in treating skin cancer in mouse models. The vaccine encases two new cancer drugs inside a nanoparticle, with initial experiments revealing it can stimulate the immune system to kill melanoma, and act as a preventative vaccine.

​Commonly known as Paneer dodi, the herb Withania coagulans has been used in traditional Indian medicine for many years now – among other things, it is claimed to help control diabetes. A new study shows that it indeed may do so, particularly when it's ingested within special capsules.

​When a spinal cord injury occurs, sometimes it's the body's own immune system that causes the subsequent paralysis. In the not-too-distant future, however, it's possible that an injection of nanoparticles at the injury site may be able to rein in the well-meaning but destructive immune cells.

Using magnetism to heat up nanoparticles inside a tumor to destroy nearby cancer cells certainly falls among the more experimental forms of cancer treatment, but scientists are now reporting an exciting advance in this area with some promising early results on mice.

New Australian research is raising questions over the safety of a common food additive after mouse studies found titanium dioxide can induce gut microbiome changes associated with the development of several diseases, including colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disease.

The latest SpaceX Dragon cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS) included an experiment that could help to combat aging here on Earth, as well as chronic illness and space-related stresses for astronauts on prolonged space missions.

Nanothermometers, while not a brand new idea, are still at the cutting edge of science. We've seen impressive results to date, but accuracy and resolution can always improve, and this is what researchers from the University of Technology Sydney in Australia believe they've achieved.