Can you give some examples of nanomedicine thats under development?
Nanomedicine is well under way in oncology. One example is radiation therapy – Memorial Sloan-Kettering has developed what it calls a nanogenerator, where it actually injects the generator of radioactivity and targets it to the tissue. The device, a type of nanobot, goes directly to the tissue and gives small doses of radiation right at the site of the cancer, so you don’t have all of the side-effects of radiation therapy. At Ohio State University they’ve developed a mechanism to encapsulate pancreatic cells so that they remain live and continue to secrete insulin. You put these encapsulated cells into the bloodstream where they secrete insulin, and the antibodies can’t get to them because they’re inside a nanoparticle. You’re not able to cure diabetes, but you can at least provide insulin to the body in a natural way without all of the problems of giving injections. Advectus Life Sciences announced just recently that it has formally started animal studies for nanoparticles that cross
