Carbon nanotubes detect cancer drugs
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a special kind of carbon nanotube, which acts as a sensor for cancer drugs and other substances that damage the DNA.
The nanotube can detect numerous chemotherapy drugs, such as cisplatin, but other drugs too.
“We’ve made a sensor that can be placed in living cells, and it can tell whether a substance is damaging the DNA or not,” said Michael Strano, senior author of a paper on the work appearing in the Dec. 14 on-line edition of Nature Nanotechnology.
The main purpose of the sensors is monitoring the progress in chemotherapy patients, because it can tell are the drugs “killing” the tumor or not. Of course, chemotherapy drugs are very dangerous, can “attack” the DNA and cause many side effects.
The technology itself is based on one of the characteristics of carbon nanotubes — they “shine” when exposed to infrared light. Human tissue doesn’t behave like that, so it’s easy to tell the difference.
Source: news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-12/15/content_10504370.htm
