You may have heard that nanotechnology is already being applied in many industry branches, but probably the most promising subfield of nanotechnology is nanomedicine. Researchers from the University of Alberta, led by Jie Chen, are working on developing a new technique which would allow them to replace chemotherapy and radiation, thus “killing” all the side effects caused by these methods.

The researching crew is doing experiments with injected nanoparticles that contain a bamboo compound that is sensitive to ultrasound. “So when the ultrasound is used and treated or targeted towards these compounds, then you will activate and generate something which can destroy the cancer, so it’s much safer compared to the conventional radiation,” said Chen.

As always when new technologies arise, security concerns come in the way. “It has been shown in animal experiments for example that very small particles can overcome the intestinal barrier and can go into the bloodstream and can go into the organs,” said Herman Stamm, a member of European Commission’s Joint Research Center. What they worry about is that the injected nanoparticles don’t really destroy themselves. They can actually stay in your body and go somewhere where they are not intended to go. Of course, that can cause problems.

Adopted from materials provided by cbc.ca