Tiny \"cages\" of DNA can be used to deliver drugs to diseased cells, new research has shown. <\/p>\n
The discovery opens up new avenues for highly-precise targeted treatments. <\/p>\n
Scientists are conducting cell and animal studies to see if the DNA \"smart bombs\" can be used to tackle leukaemia and prostate cancer. <\/p>\n
Lead scientist Professor Hanadi Sleiman, from McGill University in Canada, said: \"This research is important for drug delivery, but also for fundamental structural biology and nanotechnology.\" <\/p>\n
DNA carries all the genetic information of living organisms, but can also be used to build microscopic structures. <\/p>\n
Prof Sleiman's team first created cubes from short strands of DNA, then modified them with fatty lipid molecules. <\/p>\n
The lipids created a sticky \"core\" within the cube that could hold cargo such as a drug. <\/p>\n
Scientists from the same laboratory have previously shown that gold nanoparticles can be loaded and released from DNA tubes. <\/p>\n
The \"cages\" can trap much smaller particles than gold, making them suitable for medical applications. <\/p>\n
A major advantage is that they can be designed to release drugs in the presence of a specific genetic code sequence. <\/p>\n
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\nDNA 'cages' hope for drug delivery<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"