[Vision2020] Vandals Working on Hot, Golden, Swimming Nanowires to Zap Cancer

[Carl Westberg]

Pretty impressive research.  Story lifted from Vandal Venue, posted there Dec. 18th.  Carl Westberg Jr.
Written by Ken Kingery
           
MOSCOW,
Idaho – The next big thing in cancer treatment may be hotter, covered
in more gold, and even be a better swimmer than recent Olympic champion
Michael Phelps.
 
Scientists at the University of Idaho are
engineering multifunctional and dynamic nanowires coated in gold that
swim through the bloodstream and attach to specific cancerous cells.
Once there, an electromagnetic field heats the nanowires, which
destroys the targeted cells. The research is supported by a new
$425,000 grant, part of a multimillion dollar project funded by the
Korean government as part of the International Global Collaboration
Pioneer Program.
 
“Cancer is a dangerous enemy because radiation
and chemical treatments cause a lot of side effects,” said Daniel Choi,
associate professor of materials science and engineering at the
University of Idaho and leader of the project. “We can’t avoid side
effects 100 percent, but these nanowires will minimize the damage to
healthy cells.”
 
The technology involves many steps requiring
lots of continuing research, but each of the basic concepts already
have been proven in laboratory tests. 
 
Choi and his team have
already created nanowires that can “swim” to their targets and heat up
when exposed to low frequency electromagnetic fields, which are not
harmful to human body. The next step is to make them biocompatible,
meaning safe to introduce to the human body, and able to seek out
specific cancer cells.
 
Choi believes the gold plating will take
care of the biocompatibility. If not, he has several polymers in mind
that he also believes would work.
 
As for seeking out specific
cancer cells, Choi also is a member of and working with a University of
Idaho group called BANTech – an interdisciplinary group that integrates
nanomaterials research with cell biology and bioscience research. The
group has identified several promising candidates for antibodies with
which to coat the nanowires that would seek out and attach to specific
cancer cells.
 
Once the technology has proven itself in the
laboratory, it will be tested in live animals, and eventually human
beings. Several Korean institutions, which are helping in every phase
of research, will take the lead in that project. The institutions are
Seoul National University, Korea University and the Korea Institute of
Science and Technology.
 
“Collaborating with Korean institutions
has been a wonderful experience full of mutual benefits and great
achievements,” said Choi. “Multi-institutional, multi-national projects
can provide students and researchers with opportunities to engage in
cutting-edge investigations within an international research
environment, which is very important to advancing science.”
      

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