It is now well known to medical science that the beginning point of all cancers is a change in either one cell or in a small group of cells. This means that, in the normal course of events, some years before a patient can even feel a lump and before a doctor or specialist is able to identify a cancer on a scan the cells themselves have already begun reproducing uncontrollably.

The cells are subject to something called mutation, in which the cancer cells appear to lose many important control systems as a result of the fact that a number of genes in the cell have been either lost or damaged and thus affect a cell’s overall operations. The genes are effectively the coded messages in a cell that instruct its behavior, directing the cell how to make different proteins. Proteins are the building blocks from which the cells are made up, with some acting in the role of switches aiding the control of cellular behavior

For example, in cellular reproduction the chain starts with a hormone signal acting on a protein whether on or actually in the cell itself. The protein subsequently sends a signal along a network of switches, and the last of these signals instructs the cell to reproduce – which it does by dividing into two. In the case of mutation a gene has been either lost or damaged, and this may result in either too much protein being produced or none at all. In specific cases proteins that operate by controlling and limiting cellular division may be permanently disabled, or a signaling protein might be permanently activated.

In terms of substances that can aid in the causing of cancer these are a number of substances currently in existence that damage cells, thereby making them more likely to become cancerous. Such substances are known as carcinogens and we can find many examples in daily life, such as cigarette smoke and other forms of pollution as well as certain fats – especially saturated fats – commonly found in fast foods.

Aging also results in the decreasing of cells’ ability to reproduce healthily, causing oxidization In terms of what types of genes make a cell cancerous there are three primary different types. The first type are oncogenes, which encourage cells to multiply or double. This would happen very occasionally in healthy adults, and cells would usually only multiply in order for damage to be repaired – after an operation or an injury, for instance. In such cases where such genes become abnormal they actually instruct the cell to multiply continuously.

The second type are called tumor suppressor genes, and these genes halt cell doubling or multiplication. It only takes one of these genes to get damaged and cease functioning for the cell to continue multiplying endlessly. As a result the cell effectively becomes immortal-and this is one of the principle properties of a cancer cell. Perhaps the most well-known tumor suppressor genes is called P53, which acts by halting the reproduction of other damaged genes as well as encouraging such genes to destroy themselves. It is known that the P53 gene is either absent or damaged in most forms of human cancer.

Finally, there are the genes that act by repairing other damaged genes, and they repair problems associated with the DNA that constitutes the cells’ genes. If these types of cells are damaged in any way it means that other cellular mutations will not be fixed and subsequently the cell can replicate its mutations to daughter cells. These repair genes have been discovered damaged in certain forms of human cancer, including bowel cancer.

Nanotechnology deals with manipulating the structure as well as properties of matter at the atomic and molecular level. As the result of this maneuvering, the properties of matter change dramatically. While some insoluble elements develop high solubility capacity, inert substances start exhibiting catalyst properties. Owning to their size and properties, nanomaterials are extensively used for the treatment of a number of diseases. Cancer is such a disease where nanotechnology can play a significant role.

Nanoparticles and nanorobots
Cancer is a condition where changes occur in a small percentage of cells and they start replicating interminably. Problems come to the fore only when the condition becomes unmanageable. The size of nanoparticles and nanorobots is exceedingly small, and because of this property, they can easily enter into the blood vessels, organs, tissues and even the cells of the body. Additionally, they can also find out those cells that are growing abnormally. Thus, they can play a decisive role in the detection of cancer at a very early stage.

Accurate drug delivery
Once the cancer has been detected, it becomes essential to treat it as quickly as possible. Most of the cancer treatment methods cause widespread damage because while eliminating the cancerous cells they also start acting upon the normal cells. Drug delivery systems that use nanoparticles can effectively treat cancer without damaging the surrounding cells and tissues. These nanoparticles are smaller than the body cells, and can easily carry the drug to that part of the body where the cancerous cells are located.

Biopharmaceuticals and cancer
Biopharmaceuticals are basically proteins molecules that trigger multiple reactions in the human body. They are widely used in the treatment of cancer. The effectiveness of these pharmaceuticals will increase several times if they are coupled with nanoparticles. The nanoparticles will carry the biopharmaceuticals directly to the tumor site without adversely affecting the cells and tissues that come in the way. In this manner, cancer would be cured and healthy cells will remain as such.

Cell repair machine and cancer treatment
Cancer primarily occurs due to mutation; the genetic information stored in the DNA is changed. As the result the affected cells divide continuously and cause the formation of tumors. The cell repair machine that is as small as a nanoparticle can easily penetrate into the cancerous cell and repair the damaged DNA. As the technique is completely non-invasive, therefore the normal cells remain unharmed.

Nanotechnology is the science of maneuvering and modifying the structure and properties of matter at an atomic and molecular scale. Due to these manipulations, inert elements start to function as catalyst, and insoluble matter develop unique solubility capacity. Likewise, non-colloids begin exhibiting excellent colloidal properties and electrical non-conductors start conducting electricity. All these materials can be used for a vast variety of purposes in field as diverse as medicine, energy production and electronics.

In recent years, nanotechnology has found innumerable applications in the field of medicine — from drug delivery systems, nanorobots and cell repair machines to imaging, nanoparticles and nanonephrology. Owing to the extensive use of nanomaterials in medical equipments and devices, nanomedicine has become a significant branch of nanotechnology. Here are some important uses of nanotechnology in the field of medicine. All these things prove that nanotechnology will play a significant role in the future, and shows why is nanotechnology useful.

Drug delivery system and nanoparticles
The primary objective of the drug delivery system is to make the life-saving drug available in that part of the body where it is required the most. However, most of the time, these systems fail to work efficiently because the particles of the drug are too large for the cells to absorb, or they are insoluble or they have the potential to cause tissue damage. On the other hand, due to their exceedingly small size, nanoparticles are easily taken up by the cell. Moreover, they are completely soluble and they do not also damage the tissues. In nutshell, the efficiency of the drug delivery system can be increased several times by integrating nanoparticles with them.
Coupling of nanoparticles with biopharmaceuticals
Biopharmaceuticals are peptides or protein molecules that trigger multiple reactions in the human body. They are widely used in the treatment of life-threatening diseases like cancer. The effectiveness of biopharmaceuticals can be increased several times by coupling them with nanoparticles, which will proficiently deliver the peptides or proteins at the tumor site and in this manner cure cancer without causing extensive damage to the adjacent tissues and organs.

Nanotechnology and neuro-electronic devices
Neuro-electronic devices are unique machines based on nanotechnology that connect the nervous system with the computer. These devices not just detect and interpret the signals from the nervous system, but also control and respond to them. They can be used in the treatment of diseases that slowly and steadily decay the nervous system like multiple sclerosis.

Nanonephrology
This is a sub-branch of nanomedicine which is concerned with the detection and treatment of kidney diseases. Here various devices based on nanotechnology are used for the studying the different kidney processes and detecting disorders. Thereafter, nanoparticles and drug delivery system are used for curing the disorder.

Nanotechnology and cell repair machines
These cell repair machines use nanotechnology to penetrate into the cell and rectify disorders like DNA damage or enzyme deficiency. These machines are no bigger than a bacteria or virus.

Nanorobots
The entry of nanorobots will literally revolutionize the world of medicine. These miniature devices would not only be capable of entering into the body and detecting the diseases and infection, but they will also be capable of repairing internal injuries and wounds.

Scientists from the University of Southampton’s School of Electronics and Computer Science have gotten an assignment to create a special technique to produce nanowires, which would make mass production possible. The final goal is to be able to perform quick blood tests without the need to go to a laboratory.

The British researchers are using the standards that are currently being used in making television displays. The need for quick blood tests, which could be done during surgery, are in demand and would help significantly. Peter Ashburn, the leading researcher, said: “Standard clinical laboratory tests have limitations outside the laboratory, which can reduce the diagnostic impact of new protein biomarkers for complex conditions like cancer and chronic inflammation,” said Professor Ashburn. “One-dimensional nanostructures such as nanowires are ideal for diagnosis as they can be integrated into microfluidic chips that provide a complete sensor system.”

The research is supposed to end within three years.

In today’s technological age, it seems advancements in all fields leap forward by the day. Medical technology certainly hasn’t been left out of the loop, and some of the breakthroughs in modern medicine have been quite revolutionary and had a huge impact. But where will the field of medicine be in 20 years from now? What major advancements are waiting just around the next corner? In this article we will consider just two of the biggest technologies that are emerging over the horizon.

Electronic Implants

We have computers everywhere these days, but it’s not just the ones on our desks that we use to surf the net. We have computer chips in washing machines and just about all of our other appliances too. In the realm of science fiction (all too often a prediction of future science) we have seen technologically enhanced humans with superhuman abilities but what if those technologies were real and used for medical purposes?
Scientists have been working for years on implementing a special kind of microchip known as a “neuroprosthetic chip” that can be implanted into the brain. This chip helps to decipher signals in the brain when the brain itself cannot, and to trigger the appropriate responses. For example, the chip could help to control epileptic seizures, or help a patient suffering with paralysis to control prosthetic limbs with thought alone.

Stem Cell Research

One of the most talked about areas of medical technology today is stem cell research. With the first human trials currently taking place to determine the safety of human treatment, stem cell technology may not be too far away. The basis of stem cell therapy is regenerative: stem cells help the body to form new cells and generate tissue. If we can harness the power of stem cells for medical use, we may be able to cure paralysis, blindness, heart disease and diabetes, treat stroke patients and repair damaged organs and tissues, helping the body to regenerate and cure itself. Some people are even optimistic that stem cell research could lead to curing cancer!
Stem cell research has been the subject of much controversy. The needed stem cells are actually taken from embryos developed using IVF techniques as there are often surplus embryos and these are donated for scientific use. The stem cells gathered in this way are generic and have no predetermined cell type, which enables scientists to force the stem cells to become a specific, needed type of cell that can be injected into a patient in need of them. The embryos are only a few days old and about the size of a full stop (period), but there are many who think that stem cell research is just plain wrong; that it is “playing God” with an unborn child. This may all change as new research shed light on the ability to use adult stem cells, but only time will tell.

Nanomedicine

Nanotechnology, especially nanomedicine, are advancing significantly day by day. Nanoparticles are being already used in many products (mainly in cosmetics), but other spheres such as pharmaceutics and general medicine are slowly applying nanotechnology standards.
Nanomedicine, along with stem cells research, will probably change the way the world sees medicine. Many experts predict that it will change everything.

This was just a brief look at what the future of medicine may hold for us, but with these and many more exciting technologies rapidly emerging that future certainly looks bright.

In 1974, Norio Taniguchi of the Tokyo Science University, defined the term nanotechnology for the first time. According to his definition, nanotechnology encompasses separating, processing, consolidating and deforming matter at atomic and molecular scales. Although the term nanotechnology got its definition in 1974, the actual concept was introduced way back in 1867, when James Clerk Maxwell proposed a minuscule entity called Maxwell’s Demon that was capable of handling individual molecules.
Richard Adolf Zsigmondy was the first person to observe and measure the dimensions of nanoparticles. He was also the first person to use nanometer for characterizing the size of the nanoparticles unambiguously. He determined that 1 nm was 1/1,000,000 millimeter. He also developed the first classification system that was based on size of the particle that ranged in nanometer.

In the 20th century several developments took place that helped in characterizing nanomaterials. Like in 1920, Irving Langmuir introduced the concept of monolayer, where a layer of material is just one molecule thick. He received a Nobel Prize for this concept.
In 1959, Richard Feynman, at a meeting of American Physical Society at Caltech, put forth a process that had the ability to control and modify individual atoms and molecules. He stated that by scaling down the dimensions of the atom, dramatic changes can be brought about in its properties. After the discourse, he announced two challenges; first was the construction of nanomotor, which achieved by William McLellan in 1960,and second involved the process of scaling down the letters of Britannica Encyclopedia to fit on the head of a pin; this task was accomplished by Tom Newman in 1985.
In 1965, Gordon Moore made an astounding prediction; he stated that the number of transistors that could fit in a specific area would double every 18 years for the next 10 years. Till this date the trend is continuing, from 2000 transistors in 4004 processors to 7,000,000,000 transistors in Core 2, and Gordon’s prediction is popularly known as Moore’s Law.
In 1974, Dr. Tuomu Suntola et al. patented the atomic layer deposition process. Through this process it became possible to deposit uniformly thin films, one atomic layer at one time. In the 1980s, nanotechnology no longer remained stochastic, but became deterministic. During this period, Dr. K. Eric Drexler advocated the significance of nanomaterials and devices.

So much of groundwork on nanotechnology made the process of production and implementation of nanomaterials relatively simple.

A team of scientists from the University of Toronto have found that, by modifying a protein that improves the process of preventing cancer growth, a new way of treating cancer is on the way. The protein they have been researching is called von Hippel-Lindau (VHL).

Tumors are known to have very low blood supply when they grow. Therefore, some parts — including the center of the tumor — have low levels of oxygen and are said to be hypoxic. Cells in these parts produce hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) that makes it possible for them to keep on growing. Now, under normal conditions VHL degrades HIF — but VHL is deactivated when oxygen levels are low. So, in hypoxic regions of a tumour, just where VHL is needed to inhibit cancer, it is ineffective. That’s why scientists created a new type of VHL — a type that doesn’t stop working if oxygen levels are low.

“We have genetically removed the Achilles’ heel of VHL to permit unrestricted destruction of HIF,” said Michael Ohh, one of the researchers. “The level of HIF is usually very high under conditions of low oxygen but when we put in our bioengineered VHL its levels go right down to a level that would be comparable to that in normal oxygen levels.”

The details are published in EMBO Molecular Medicine.

Adopted from materials provided by the University of Toronto

Researchers from Rice University, led by Professor Yildiz Bayazitoglu, have performed a research which showed that by combining two lasers and pointing them to nanoparticles in order to heat them up, it is possible to destroy the “bad” tissue, with minimum damage to healthy cells.

Of course, lasers and nanoparticles are already used in nanomedicine for treating cancer — the technique is based on using nanoshells and heating them up by near-infrared laser.

The outcome of this research depends on the properties of nanoparticles — their light-scatter in particular. “We’re afraid that the nanoparticles located near the surface of a tumor will block a laser from reaching those at the center.”

The details are published in International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer.

Adopted from materials provided by UPI.com

Scientists from the Pennsylvania State University have found that a high amount of fluorescent molecules that naturally reside in human’s body can be used as biomarkers for cancer.

NADH (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) is an enzyme found in mitochondria. “Dysfunctional enzymes in the mitochondria are known to be associated with serious health problems such as cancer and neurodegenerative diseases,” said Ahmed Heikal, one of the researchers. “By detecting the level of NADH and its distribution inside living cells, we should be able to monitor the mitochondrial activity and thus the integrity of any given cell, without adding potentially toxic dyes or actually destroying the cell.”

The main catch that scientists are working on is to be able to differentiate normal healthy cells from the “bad” cancer ones. Now, by using special techniques, they were able to make that happen.
“If we are given two live cells, one normal and the other cancerous, we could differentiate between the two with confidence,” said Heikal.

“Our method is not limited to detecting cancer. Other neurodegenerative diseases related to mitochondrial anomalies can also be detected with our method,” said Heikal. “We can also use our approach to quantify the efficiency of a new drug on manipulating the activities of mitochondrial enzymes associated with energy production in cells.”

Adopted from materials provided by psu.edu

You may have heard that nanotechnology is already being applied in many industry branches, but probably the most promising subfield of nanotechnology is nanomedicine. Researchers from the University of Alberta, led by Jie Chen, are working on developing a new technique which would allow them to replace chemotherapy and radiation, thus “killing” all the side effects caused by these methods.

The researching crew is doing experiments with injected nanoparticles that contain a bamboo compound that is sensitive to ultrasound. “So when the ultrasound is used and treated or targeted towards these compounds, then you will activate and generate something which can destroy the cancer, so it’s much safer compared to the conventional radiation,” said Chen.

As always when new technologies arise, security concerns come in the way. “It has been shown in animal experiments for example that very small particles can overcome the intestinal barrier and can go into the bloodstream and can go into the organs,” said Herman Stamm, a member of European Commission’s Joint Research Center. What they worry about is that the injected nanoparticles don’t really destroy themselves. They can actually stay in your body and go somewhere where they are not intended to go. Of course, that can cause problems.

Adopted from materials provided by cbc.ca

Taiwan, among other Asian countries, is heavily investing in nanotechnology — especially nanomedicine. They recognized the potential, and they’re jumping into it. However, they’re being cautious — National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan started a project which is supposed to explore the effects of nanotechnology on health.

The main goal of this research is to minimize the side effects caused by products based on nanotechnology. The officials in Taiwan reported that the value of products based on nanotechnology standards is over US$8.8 billion.
“Most of the simulation software currently used for nanotechnology research and its effect on the human body only supports the computation of either inorganic material or organic molecules. NCKU is the first institute to achieve a breakthrough that combines the simulation of organic and inorganic substances,” said Michael Lai, one of the researchers.