Nanoparticle Both Kills Cancer Cells and Helps Image the Killing Process

There are nanoparticles being studied that along with uses for treatment are also being used to see how the drug works inside the body. Australian researchers are now using a fluorescence image technique to see the release of the drug inside lung cancer cells. The nanoparticle treatment has a polymer outer shell that attaches to the drug and then releases it inside the cancer cell. There are iron oxides nanoparticles that make it fluorescent in appearance, and it contrasts it with other cells to make it stand out. This could potentially grow into a way to adapt different treatments for different patients. 

This is interesting to me and relevant in science because now there is a way to actually see if the treatment process works and how it will work inside a biological environment. Also, these nanoparticles are not unlike our nanorobot designs. If this method of treatment is currently proven to work then potentially there could be a way that our designs could be made to function in the human body in the future. Technology is growing on large scale and on a smaller scale too, to the extent of nanounits.

Below is the article:

http://spectrum.ieee.org/nanoclast/biomedical/diagnostics/nanoparticle-both-kills-cancer-cells-and-images-the-process