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Wednesday, 17th October 2007 (4751 views)

New research efforts from the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue University has found that gold nanorods can be used in conjunction with a laser beam as part of a biochemical scenario that causes tumours to self destruct.

Previously, it was thought that the high heat emitting from light-absorbing gold nanoparticles was the cause of tumour self destruction, but the Purdue team has determined that the cells are actually destroyed as a result of a complex biochemical process.

"We have found that rather than cooking the cells to death, the nanorods first punch holes in the membrane and cell death is then chemically induced, in this case by an influx of calcium," Alexander Wei, an associate professor of chemistry at Purdue, said in a statement.

The gold nanorods used in the research measure less than 50 nanometres long and 15 nanometres wide – 200 times smaller than a red blood cell – which allows them to remain in the human bloodstream for longer periods of time.

A detailed report of the Purdue team's findings is set to be published on October 19th in the scientific journal Advanced Materials.

Founded in 1869, Purdue University's main campus is located in West Lafayette, Indiana.

 

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