NanoMedicine Revolution

Insituto de Medicina Molecular (IMM) 
Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa (FMUL)
Av. Prof. Egas Moniz (Edf Egas Moniz)
Lisbon, Portugal
February 18-20, 2013

Nanomedicine, or nanotechnology applied to medical problems, in the future, is expected to offer solutions on early diagnosis, “smart” treatments, and the triggering of self-healing mechanisms. Artificial nanostructures, such as nanoparticles and nanodevices, similar sized biological entities, can readily interact with biomolecules on both the cell surface and within the cell. Nanomedical developments range from nanoparticles for molecular diagnostics, imaging, and therapy to integrated medical nanosystems, which may perform complex repair actions at the cellular level inside the body in the future.

 

 

 

Bacterial biofilms appearing on the skin and on medical devices and household surfaces are difficult to treat and demonstrate high resistance to antibiotics. Antimicrobial hydrogels developed by IBM Research and the Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology demonstrate 100% efficiency in destruction of these biofilms, with application potential for catheter and medical device coatings, implants, skin and everyday surfaces.

The world's smallest tunnels have a width of a few nanometers only. Researchers from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and Rice University, USA, have dug such tunnels into graphite samples. This will allow structuring of the interior of materials through self-organization in the nanometer range and tailoring of nanoporous graphite for applications in medicine and battery technology. Results are now presented in the scientific journal Nature Communications (DOI: 10.1038/ncomms2399).

McGill Dentistry Prof. Marc McKee and colleagues have been awarded $3.7 million from CFI, the Quebec Government and partners to acquire the first and only cryo-FIBSEM (electron microscope) in Canada. McKee explains how this new generation electron microscope maintains the integrity of samples, allowing researchers to better visualize and analyze biological processes at the cellular, subcellular and molecular levels. This could lead to the earlier diagnosis of disease and the creation of new implant materials for tissue repair.

Researchers have demonstrated a new technology that combines a laser and electric fields to create tiny centrifuge-like whirlpools to separate particles and microbes by size, a potential lab-on-a-chip system for medicine and research.

Benny Landa could commercialise his nanotechnology beyond print and into pharmaceuticals, green energy, pyrotechnics, LED screens – even hair dye.

What makes nanogolive unique in this scientific and technological field? Highly relevant curated content, updated daily, dedicated to highly targeted communities of audiences world wide.

Canadian researchers say they have found a solution to the humble condom’s fatal flaw: nanoparticles.

Researchers at Syracuse University’s Department of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering at L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science are studying the toxicity of commonly used nanoparticles, particles up to one million times smaller than a millimetre that could potentially penetrate and damage cell membranes.

In 2011, IBM researchers and a research group in Singapore showed off a new kind of synthetic, biodegradable nano particle that doctors could use to attack bacteria cells that are resistant to antibiotics. Now, the same group of researchers have made the “nanomedicine” much more practical by delivering it in the form of a cream or gel that you can rub on wounds or inject into infected regions.

Call them nanomeds. They could save your life one day.

Drug Delivery: Peptides modified with a lipid group form tightly wrapped nanofibers that can slip into the brains of mice