Nanomedicine and nanotechnology

Medicine of the Future

Nanomedicine is the medical application of nanotechnology and related research. It covers areas such as nanoparticle drug delivery and possible future applications of molecular nanotechnology (MNT) and nanovaccinology


By MARIJA MITROVIĆ
from Belgrade, SERBIA


Imagine: Doctors can search out and destroy the very first cancer cells that would otherwise have caused a tumor to develop in the body. Broken part of a cell can be removed and replaced with a miniature biological machine, or there are pumps the size of molecules implanted in your body to deliver life-saving medicines precisely when and where they are needed.These scenarios may sound unbelievable, but they are the long-term goals of the scientists in field of nanomedicine and nanotechnology.

Nanomedicine is the medical application of nanotechnology and related research. It covers areas such as nanoparticle drug delivery and possible future applications of molecular nanotechnology (MNT) and nanovaccinology.

A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter, too small to be seen with a conventional lab microscope. It is at this size scale - about 100 nanometers or less - that biological molecules and structures inside living cells operate. That means that nanotechnology involves the creation and use of materials and devices at the level of molecules and atoms. Research in nanotechnology began with applications outside of medicine and is based on discoveries in physics and chemistry. This is because it is essential to understand the physical and chemical properties of molecules or complexes of molecules in order to control them. The same holds true for the molecules and structures inside living tissues. Researchers have developed powerful tools to extensively categorize the parts of cells in vivid detail, and we know a great deal about how theseintracellular structures operate. Yet, scientists have still not been able to answer questions such as, "how many?", "how big?" and "how fast?".

There are already a few ideas of possible applications of nanotechnology in curing disses and injuries.

How to defeat cancer using nanomedicine?

There are few ways in which we can destroy growing cancer in a human body or body of animals. Injected nanoparticles of cadmium selenide seep into cancer tumors. When they are exposed to ultraviolet light, they glow. This enables surgeon to see the glowing tumor, and use it as a guide for more accurate tumor removal. In this procedure, the nanomedicine only helps in marking the tumor, but they can also help in detection of cancer in body. Jim Heath, a Caltech chemist, is developing nano-sized sensors that can detect and diagnose cancer in the early stages, when there are only a few thousand cancer cells in the body. A few drops of the patient's blood are placed on the sensor test chip. The chip contains tens of thousands of nanowires that can detect proteins and other biomarkers left behind by cancer cells. Cancer is curable in the early stages, so this test could save lives once perfected.

Chemotherapy or radiation are a sometimes effective ways of killing cancer cells, but they are also toxic, in a way that they can also destroy a health tissue. Treatments in which are used gold nanoshells there are no toxic side effect, and it is cheaper, faster, free of side effects, and less dangerous than surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation treatment. Jeniffer West is using this technique to kill cancer cells in mice. The nanoshells are 120 nanometers in diameter, 170 times smaller than a cancer cell. When they are injected in mouse they become lodged in the cracks of the tumors. Then the mouse is shot with an infrared laser. The ray passes through the flesh harmlessly, but heats up the gold. The gold burns the cancer cells to death, without harming the healthy cells. No mice have died, even when injected with large doses of nanoshells.

There is highly efficient and successful way of delivering cancer-treatment drugs that are less harmful to the surrounding body, which includes nanotechnology. A scientist James Baker is using molecule called dendrimer. Dendirmer has over a hundred hooks on it that allow it to attaches to cells in a body. Baker attaches folic-acid (a vitamin) to a few of the hooks, and on the rest of the hooks of the dendrimer he attaches anti-cancer drug. Cancer cells have more vitamin receptors than do nomal cells, so dendrimer and anti-drug cancer will be apsorbed by cancer cells. This way the cancer drug will be only delivered to cancer tissue and nowhere else.

Futuristic idea of nanorobots

Nanorobots (nanobots or nanoids) are typically devices ranging in size from 0.1-10 micrometers (100 nm - 10000 nm) and constructed of nanoscale or molecular components. As no artificial non-biological nanorobots have so far been created, they remain a hypothetical concept at this time. But one is sure, when and if we ever be able to use nanorobots in medicine the world of medicine will be totally changed. These robots would be introduced into the body, to repair or detect damages and infections. The topical size of nanorobot would be between 0.5-3 micrometres in size, because that is the maximum size possible due to capillary passage requirement. The main element used to build these robots will be carbon. The reason for this is the inherent strength and other characteristics of some forms of carbon. Nanorobots could also be useful in treating cancer, vascular disease, physical trauma , and even biological aging.

The idea of applying nanotechnology in medicine, is maybe 10 or more years far from to be realized. But it is possible, and it will enable us to defeat not all but most of the diseases, and to make better life for every one.