Medical science - now with more bees!
The world of medical science is one filled with many complex goals, especially considering how very little we understand how our bodies fit together and still manage to work. However that doesn't mean we can't find new ways of treating our problems, and that's exactly what the Siteman Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence has managed to do for one of the biggest we've faced - tumours.
Tumours are foriegn and unwanted cells that grow rapidly within the body, and their presence is dangerous to health and can in many cases kill the host (though it is not always linked to cancer). By analysing the chemical makeup of bee venom, scientists have identified a toxin called melittin that targets any living tissue and rips it apart at the protein level, stripping away the bonds that keep the chains together and breaking the internal structure.
While this is indeed useful, without a method of delivering melittin directly to tumour cells it would not discriminate - and would actually target the red blood cells! To combat this problem, scientists attached the melittin to nano-sized spheres that have chemical properties that cause them to gather and concentrate themselves in tumour cells, dubbed Nanobees for the similarity to the living counterpart.
Cancerous breast cells were introduced into a test mouse, while another mouse had melanoma tumours, and both were treated with Nanobees injected into their bloodstreams. Amazingly the breast cancer cells slowed growth by 25%, and the melanoma tumours decreased in size by an astounding 88%! The Nanobees proved great for treatment, but as a prevantative measure they will also show their worth.
Nanobees are constructed mainly from perfluorocarbon, which is an inert compound that makes up a major constituent of artificial blood and allows their safe travel in the circulatory system. They measure only 152.4 nanometres across in total; about the same as 3.4 transistors from a 45nm CPU, and can circulate for roughly 200 times around the mouse's bloodstream before breaking down safely.
This technology is bringing us just another step closer to decimating tumours, and could potentially be used to deliver specific medicine directly to areas that require it - on a microscopic level. Until that day, head over to Science Daily to read more about the Nanobees.
Issue: 133 | February, 2012