Nanostructures like Diamonds can deliver cancer drugs precisely

Nano looks like it may provide a newly precise way of aiming only at cancer cells and avoiding inflammation, thus leaving healthy cells in their natural state. Nanoengineers Mine Tiny Diamonds For Drug Delivery. Fascinating to learn that these "diamonds," which are structurally not unlike their namesake minerals, are welcomed by cells because they are so carefully organized. When cells welcome a substance, according to this report, they tend not to go haywire and express it with inflammation. Hmmm. Seems like a big useful clue in that statement for future researchers.

The technique here is to cluster several nanodiamonds together, apply the drug to the surfaces (which allows more drug to be used than with the spherical nanoparticles currently used), deliver it to the cancer site, and there let it break up--which then releases the drug.

They've even found that they can deliver nanodiamonds (without drugs) into the body and no harm comes to surrounding cells. These new guys could become the next-generation stem-cell-type magic.

Stem cells: sorting out diamonds from gold

The power of stem cells has been among the most rewarding discoveries of our time. Now scientists are beginning learn how to truly harness and direct that power. In a study with mice, they've been able to harvest stem cells that specifically relate to muscle formation and use them to regrow muscles mice lost as a result of a shortage of a substance such as humans are missing with Muscular Dystrophy.

They found that using undifferentiated stem cells (that could develop into just anything), they ended up causing tumors to grow. But now by using fluorescent dyes they're finding ways to pick out and harvest just the cells that will only grow into muscles. This is like saying they could pick out from a huge crowd only the people with blue eyes and black hair who are wearing red vests.

To be totally unscientific, WOW. They regrew muscles and improved coordination. What person suffering from a debilitating disease won't be jumping out of her skin praying for them to get going on this one?

What person suffering from any of a host of diseases won't be praying really hard that they can perfect this technique immediately? Let us all join those people in prayer, for we never know when our turn may come to enjoy life longer and/or more fully because of the miracle of stem cell science.