Nanotechnology A New Option For Cancer - 2102 Words

Nanotechnology - A new option for cancer? B. Specht Introduction Nanotechnology has become something of a buzzword in recent times. This is primarily due to it being a new and emerging science, but also because of its amazing applications and uses. Nanotechnology encompasses a varied array of subcategories in chemistry, biology, and physics. Generally, it includes all particles which are on the order of 1 billionth of a meter. [1]. As the particles involved are this small, it allows a variety of new technologies as well as new options for the treatment of diseases. Cancer is but one of these few diseases which nanotechnology has presented a new and refreshing chance to find a treatment. Cancer can be defined by anomalous and invasive†¦show more content†¦It is possible to attach to these gold nanoparticles antibodies that specifically bind to proteins of interest and then tag these particles with identifiable DNA strands. The proteins of interest then bind to these antibodies which are attached to the gold nanoparticle, then then add anot her seeking antibody attached to a magnetic bead. Then magnets are used to separate the sample from everything around it and sequence the DNA strands.[3] If this same technique is used to hunt cancer proteins, it could be very easily used for early detection of cancer. This same principle can be used to image cancer cells. Just by switching the gold nanoparticle for a quantum dot(QD), this can then use the same seeking method as the gold nanoparticle and be used in imaging the tumor cells.[4] Another use for these gold nanoparticles is in gold nanoshells. These nanoshells can be injected into the area which the tumor is, and combined with the original seeking system mentioned earlier attach to the tumorous cells. These nanoshells can then be irradiated with a 820-nm, 4 W/cm ² light pulses. The result found was that the area underwent a temperature change which caused the destruction of tumor cells. [1] This can be seen to be a very good way of treating the cancer cells as it leave s the surrounding cells untouched, and only ‘cooks’ the