In Technology Review, Prachi Patel-Predd reports on a paper submitted to "Small" on functionalizing gold nanoparticles with dendrimers for putative targeted delivery.

Quote: "In a paper published in the July issue of Small, the researchers demonstrated targeting and imaging cancer cells in a laboratory dish with the new gold-dendrimer hybrid nanoparticles. They hooked four or five folic-acid and fluorescent-dye molecules to each of the dendrimer branches. Then they processed the particles to remove any extra surface charge, which can make the otherwise safe polymers toxic."

Full article: http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/18999/

Gold Nanoparticles May Pan Out As Tool For Cancer Diagnosis

Quote: "Purdue University researchers have created gold nanoparticles that are capable of identifying marker proteins on breast cancer cells, making the tiny particles a potential tool to better diagnose and treat cancer. The technology would be about three times cheaper than the most common current method and has the potential to provide many times the quantity and quality of data, said Joseph Irudayaraj, an associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering."


Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070731125811.htm

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by Purdue University.