Cancer Nanotech from NOVA-scienceNOW a show

 

 

Think small—really small. Nanotechnology employs devices with dimensions of one to 1,000 nanometers. To put this in perspective, consider the following: a nanometer is 1/80,000th the width of a human hair; it is the length of 10 hydrogen atoms placed end to end; and it is less than one third the height of a single twist on a strand of DNA. At these sizes it is no wonder that scientists have seized upon nanotechnology for myriad medical applications. After all, the human body is built upon a foundation of nature-made nanostructures—genes, proteins, cells—that may be best approached on their own scale.

Cancer is the key area of medical nanotechnology research. In the not too distant future, dozens of intriguing nanodevices such as the nanotubes at left may transform cancer diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.—Lexi Krock

 

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	Nanotubes		Nanopores
	Nanowire		Gold Nanoparticles
	Nanocantilever		Liposomes
	Nanoshells		Fullerenes
	Quantum Dots		Dendrimer

 

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