Today we talked about how nanotechnology can help with cancer. Right now we use chemotherapy, which is a form of radiation, to fight the cancer cells. The problem is that it kill ALL the cells. Doctors basically try to kill the cancer before they kill the whole patient. Obviously this is problematic so now they are designing new ways to target just the cancer cells. One way to do this is to target cells with low PH because cancers cells have been found to have a lower PH than the rest of the body. Another way they do this is by having medicine be spread throughout the body in nanoparticles that release the medicine when light reaches them. This was scientists can light up just a tumor and release the drugs right there.
In addition to looking deeper into cancer cells, we went down into a lab with a group of scientists who are turning phones and webcams into devices that could save lives. They modify them to take pictures of a blood sample easily and quickly. This way people who do not have doctors nearby, like those in developing countries, can get diagnosed based on the red blood cells in their body by sending the picture to a doctor. The doctor can even text the diagnosis back to the patient.
I found this research very amazing because they already have working examples of the entire system. It it innovative and solves a real problem that can help people today.
http://www.jumpintotomorrow.com/template/index.php?tech=245
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzX0Vx4Aibk
http://dailybruin.com/stories/2007/may/11/ucla-research-fuels-cancer-therapy/