Back to the RadioSpace™ home page
NewsDirect story topics:
Consumer, Business & General Interest
Current Events & Public Affairs
Entertainment & Sports
Health & Medicine
"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Multi-Faceted"
Fully produced report in MP3 format:
48 kbps |
96 kbps
(90 seconds)
-- How Will You Use This Story? --
READER SCRIPT
(DOES NOT FULLY MATCH AUDIO)
A DIAMOND-STUDDED CANCER-BLASTER... THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. A NOVEL CANCER-TREATMENT DEVICE OUT OF NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY USES NOT-SO-GLAMOROUS, MICROSCOPIC "NANO-DIAMONDS" TO DELIVER A SLOW, SUSTAINED DOSAGE OF CHEMOTHERAPY DRUGS, DIRECTLY TO A SPECIFIC AREA OF THE BODY. HERE'S HOW THEY DO IT: CLUSTERS OF "NANO-DIAMONDS" ARE LOADED WITH THE CHEMO DRUG; BECAUSE OF THE HIGH SURFACE AREA OF DIAMONDS, A LARGE AMOUNT OF THE MEDICATION CAN BE PUT IN. THE DIAMONDS ARE PLACED BETWEEN TWO SHEETS OF AN F-D-A-APPROVED, BIO-STABLE POLYMER THAT'S SORT OF LIKE PLASTIC WRAP. ONE SIDE OF THIS "NANO-DIAMOND SANDWICH" IS SEMI-POROUS, FOR DELIVERY OF THE MEDICATION. IT'S NOT UNLIKE STOP-SMOKING PATCHES--EXCEPT THAT YOU WOULD WEAR THIS ONE INSIDE. AFTER TUMOR REMOVAL, THE DEVICE WOULD BE IMPLANTED IN THE AREA TO KILL CANCER CELLS THAT MIGHT REMAIN; IT COULD DELIVER MEDICATION FOR MONTHS--UNLIKE CONVENTIONAL TREATMENTS, WHICH TEND TO DUMP ALL THE MEDICATION WITHIN A DAY OR TWO. BECAUSE IT CONFINES DRUG RELEASE TO A SPECIFIC REGION, IT'S A LESS-INVASIVE, "MULTI-FACETED" APPROACH THAT COULD MEAN FEWER SIDE-EFFECTS AND COMPLICATIONS. THE RESEARCHERS ARE ALREADY LOOKING AT OTHER TREATMENTS THAT REQUIRE LONG-TERM, SUSTAINED RELEASE; THE DEVICE COULD DELIVER ANTIBODIES, PROTEINS, AND R-N-A- OR D-N-A-BASED MEDICATIONS. THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV--OR ON THEIR PODCAST.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
