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June 12, 2021 Saturday 12:12:00 PM IST

Silica Nanoparticles for Precise Drug Targetting

Science Innovations

Scientists at University of Geneva (UNIGE) have developed silica nanoparticles with a very precise opening mechanism that can transport a drug exactly to where it should act and enable better treatment for cancer and also to deliver other drugs at the very heart of our immune system, thus paving the way for entirely new therapeutic or preventive strategies. In medicine, nanoparticles are used to encapsulate a drug in order to protect it. Their nano size allows them to be taken up by dendritic cells, the body's first line of defence. Medical nanoparticles are usually composed of polymers or lips that causes incompatibility with the solubility of the substance to be transported. Thus silica, a natural mineral was chosen which are sponges with cavities that can be easily be filled and whose properties can be modified to better match those of the drug.

Published in Pallikkutam, June, 2021

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