2008 Woodie Awards
Researchers thinking small
Christopher Patton - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 9/28/07 Section: Metro
- Page 1 of 1
Confirming the adage that big things can come in small packages, UI nanotechnology researchers are working to revolutionize medicine with molecular-scale devices.
"Our ability to manipulate and fabricate matter on the nanometer-length scale is far better than ever before," said Vicki Grassian, the director of the UI's Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Institute.
After delivering a few introductory remarks, she yielded the floor to Donn Dennis, director of nanomedicine at the University of Florida and the keynote speaker at Thursday's symposium.
In his talk "Nanomedicine: The Promise and Major Barriers," Dennis laid out where he sees nanomedicine going in the next three to 10 years. He began, however, by explaining just how small nano-scale objects really are.
"One nanometer represents only three atoms of solid material; that's around 1?100,000 the thickness of a sheet of paper," he said. "Red blood cells are about 6,000 nanometers across, so a single nanoparticle in a cell is about like an ant in a car."
Nanotechnology will empower doctors to address medical problems in a more targeted way than has traditionally been possible, he said.
In the near future, nano-based bio-sensing capabilities will allow doctors to detect diseases and monitor medication levels in real-time. Eventually, they aim to use nano-sized devices to deliver drugs selectively to certain types of cells.
Dennis said cancer treatment is a field that stands to gain immensely from advances in nanotechnology.
"When it comes to cancer, we really do take a sledge hammer to a mosquito," he said.
The goal, the researcher explained, is to create "smart" nanostructures that deliver drugs only to diseased cells, leaving normal cells unharmed. This is possible because cancer and infectious diseases leave markers on cells that nanodevices could react to, he said, noting that some such experimental therapies are working well in rats.
Because nanomedicine is such a new field, Dennis said, the Food and Drug Administration is only in the initial stages of formulating strategies for regulating its use in humans. Thus, the researcher said, the first nanodevices doctors use to treat humans will likely be diagnostic tools that do not need to be inserted into the body.
"A lot of diagnostics we do where we draw blood, ultimately we'll be able to do through breath," he said.
Many molecules that are present in human blood escape in small numbers through the lungs and leave the body when people exhale, the researcher said, adding that sensors based on nanotechnology are sensitive enough to detect even very low levels of most chemicals.
During the panel discussion, after the speakers had given their presentations, several researchers addressed described the UI as an ideal place to study nanomedicine.
"There's a lot of friendliness at Iowa," UI researcher Aliasger Salem said.
The atmosphere of intercollegiate collaboration at the university is essential for progress in a field such as nanotechnology, which draws upon many distinct disciplines, he said.
E-mail DI reporter Christopher Patton at:
chris-patton@uiowa.edu
"Our ability to manipulate and fabricate matter on the nanometer-length scale is far better than ever before," said Vicki Grassian, the director of the UI's Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Institute.
After delivering a few introductory remarks, she yielded the floor to Donn Dennis, director of nanomedicine at the University of Florida and the keynote speaker at Thursday's symposium.
In his talk "Nanomedicine: The Promise and Major Barriers," Dennis laid out where he sees nanomedicine going in the next three to 10 years. He began, however, by explaining just how small nano-scale objects really are.
"One nanometer represents only three atoms of solid material; that's around 1?100,000 the thickness of a sheet of paper," he said. "Red blood cells are about 6,000 nanometers across, so a single nanoparticle in a cell is about like an ant in a car."
Nanotechnology will empower doctors to address medical problems in a more targeted way than has traditionally been possible, he said.
In the near future, nano-based bio-sensing capabilities will allow doctors to detect diseases and monitor medication levels in real-time. Eventually, they aim to use nano-sized devices to deliver drugs selectively to certain types of cells.
Dennis said cancer treatment is a field that stands to gain immensely from advances in nanotechnology.
"When it comes to cancer, we really do take a sledge hammer to a mosquito," he said.
The goal, the researcher explained, is to create "smart" nanostructures that deliver drugs only to diseased cells, leaving normal cells unharmed. This is possible because cancer and infectious diseases leave markers on cells that nanodevices could react to, he said, noting that some such experimental therapies are working well in rats.
Because nanomedicine is such a new field, Dennis said, the Food and Drug Administration is only in the initial stages of formulating strategies for regulating its use in humans. Thus, the researcher said, the first nanodevices doctors use to treat humans will likely be diagnostic tools that do not need to be inserted into the body.
"A lot of diagnostics we do where we draw blood, ultimately we'll be able to do through breath," he said.
Many molecules that are present in human blood escape in small numbers through the lungs and leave the body when people exhale, the researcher said, adding that sensors based on nanotechnology are sensitive enough to detect even very low levels of most chemicals.
During the panel discussion, after the speakers had given their presentations, several researchers addressed described the UI as an ideal place to study nanomedicine.
"There's a lot of friendliness at Iowa," UI researcher Aliasger Salem said.
The atmosphere of intercollegiate collaboration at the university is essential for progress in a field such as nanotechnology, which draws upon many distinct disciplines, he said.
E-mail DI reporter Christopher Patton at:
chris-patton@uiowa.edu
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