RSS
Home
Advancing the safety of nanotechnology
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Nanotechnology (materials that are approximately one billionth of a meter thick) is a booming business. Some estimates state its annual market will be over one trillion dollars by 2015. But while the technology is rapidly expanding, concern over its safety is growing as well. Good news is that there are scientists, like Dr. Chengyu Jiang, a molecular biologist at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in Beijing, China, who are starting to unravel the problems nanotechnology poses to human health.
In the medical field, it is hoped that nanotechnology will one day be used to create faster diagnostic tools as well as more effective drug delivery and tissue engineering methods. However, at the moment, there are safety issues, the most pressing of which is lung damage. In the past it has been shown that ployamidoamine dendrimers, a material that is being developed for medical use, somehow induces harm in the lungs. Until this report, published in the Journal of Molecular Cell Biology, it was unknown exactly how the damage was occurring, meaning they could not be safely used for clinical trials.
However, Jiang and his team have isolated the cause of the problem. When the material enters the lungs, it actually sparks off “a type of programmed cell death known as autophagic cell death.” [EurekAlert] In this mode of death, a cell essentially commits suicide, systematically destroying its organelles. The process is a natural form of cell death (one that helps prevent the spread of cancer), but if it is not tightly regulated and too many cells die, considerable problems can arise.
Luckily, in addition to discovering the problem, Jiang also discovered the solution. By using an autophagy inhibitor, they blocked the effects of lung damage in mice. While the autophagy inhibitors used in the experiment are not effective in humans, Jiang hopes the research will ensure both safety and the continued expansion of the field. "Our study has identified the principle for developing [autophagy inhibitor] compounds. The idea is that, to increase the safety of nanomedicine, compounds could be developed that could either be incorporated into the nano product to protect against lung damage, or patients could be given pills to counteract the effects," Jiang said. [EurekAlert]
Nanotechnology is already being widely used—in fields from cosmetics to medicine. An interesting study published earlier this year concerned the US Department of Agriculture using nanoparticles to an efficient way screen for contaminated meat products. As with all new technology and treatments, the long-term effects are completely unknown. Establishing safety now is the first step for ensuring safety in the future.
More technology news: An ageless hard drive * Hubble's successors * Smartphone ultrasounds could revolutionize medical imaging * More
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
Cheeseburgers, fries, and other modern-day fatty foods often receive the blunt of the blame for atherosclerosis, a heart disease in which cholesterol …
When the LCROSS probe bashed into the moon October 9th, it sent an unassuming plume of lunar surface puffing off into space. In that puff, LCROSS …
- 10. China's urbanization escalating strain on global grain supply
- 9. Life may have originated billions of years earlier
- 8. Against the odds ancient octopus fossils discovered
- 7.Scientist suggests that plant is self-aware
- 6. Girl with two hearts makes complete recovery
- 5. Evidence shows some large dinosaurs survived mass extinction
- 4. Potential cure found for honey bee colony collapse
- 3. New discovery may end transplant rejection
- 2.Successful treatment of peanut allergy
- 1. First clinical use of embryonic stem cells approved
