Golden nanocages to put the heat on cancer cells

Cancer is a disease whose treatments are notoriously indiscriminate and nonspecific. Researchers have been searching for a highly targeted medical treatment that attacks cancer cells but leaves healthy tissue alone. A team of scientists at Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL) is working on gold nanocages that, when injected, selectively accumulate in tumors. When the tumors are later bathed in laser light, the surrounding tissue is barely warmed, but the nanocages convert light to heat, killing the malignant cells…

Tags: Cancer, Medical, Nanoparticles, Treatment, Tumors

Related Articles:

• Treating tumors by blasting nanotubes with a laser
• Gold nanospheres search out and ‘cook’ cancer cells
• Nanosized drug delivery systems take a leap forward
• Nano-antennas used to fight cancer
• Fingernail-sized implant successfully eliminates tumors in mammals
• Painting brain tumors with nanoparticles may help defeat cancer

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GizmagEmergingTechnologyMagazine/~3/LbHJBTiTVlY/

Study: Babies’ low serotonin levels cause SIDS

Sudden infant death syndrome researchers say low serotonin may be what prevents infants from waking up when they inhale too much …

http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/usatoday-NewsTopStories/~3/9HKMrNk-9xo/2010-02-03-sids03_st_N.htm

Correlation Found Between Brain Structure and Video Game Success

kghapa writes “Still want to argue that video games shrink your brain? While video games have been previously shown to stimulate brain activity and improve coordination skills, a recently published study has directly linked structures in the human brain with video game aptitude. And yes, apparently size does matter in this case. Quoting: ‘… each subject received 20 hours of training to play a video game specifically created for research purposes, called Space Fortress. It’s basically an Asteroids-type arcade game, in which the object is to knock down and destroy an enemy fortress while dodging space mines. However, the game has lots of extra twists that require close attention. Some of the players were told to focus exclusively on running up a high score, while others were told to shift their priorities between several goals. The result? The subjects who had more volume in an area called the nucleus accumbens did significantly better in the early stages of training. Meanwhile, those who were well-endowed in different areas of the striatum, known as the caudate nucleus and putamen, handled the shifting strategies better.’”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/-OGEzWhkAgo/Correlation-Found-Between-Brain-Structure-and-Video-Game-Success

Painless plasma jets could replace dentist’s drill

Plasma jets capable of obliterating tooth decay-causing bacteria could be an effective and less painful alternative to the dentist’s drill, according to a new study published in the February issue of the Journal of Medical Microbiology.

http://www.physorg.com/news183153224.html

Researchers find that common stomach pathogen may protect against tuberculosis

It’s been implicated as the bacterium that causes ulcers and the majority of stomach cancers, but studies by researchers at Stanford University, UC Davis, and the University of Pittsburgh have found that Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) also may play a protective role – against the worldwide killer, tuberculosis (TB).

http://www.physorg.com/news183185646.html