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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Pilot Program"
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INCOMING! THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. IN THE WAR ON CANCER, SCIENTISTS HAVE BEEN WORKING TO USE TINY POUCHES CALLED "LIPOSOMES" ["LYE-POE-SOHMS"] AS CONTAINERS--TO BE LOADED WITH DEADLY MEDICATIONS THAT KILL CANCER-CELLS. THE TROUBLE IS, WHEN YOU'RE DELIVERING THAT POISONOUS PAYLOAD, YOU NEED A GOOD PILOT: A WAY TO GET IN, BOMB THE CANCER-CELLS, AND GET OUT--WITH LITTLE OR NO COLLATERAL-DAMAGE TO HEALTHY CELLS. FOR SEVERAL YEARS, SCIENTISTS HAVE BEEN TRYING TO USE ANTIBODIES AS PILOTS, TO SHOW "LIPOSOMES"--AND THEIR PAYLOAD--TO THEIR TARGETS. BUT, ATTACHING ANTIBODIES TO "LIPOSOMES" FOR A SUCCESSFUL MISSION IS A TOUGH JOB. NOW, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS RESEARCHERS HAVE TURNED TO A NEW BREED OF PILOT FOR "LIPOSOMES": SMALL MOLECULES CALLED "APTAMERS" ["APP-TAH-MERRS"]. "APTAMERS" ARE STRANDS OF D-N-A OR R-N-A THAT BIND TO SELECTED MOLECULES. THE RESEARCHERS ISOLATE "APTAMERS" THAT GO FOR SPECIFIC RECEPTORS ON CANCER-CELLS, AND ENLIST THEM AS TARGETING-AGENTS. AND, WHY NOT? THEY'RE EASY TO MAKE, LABEL, AND MANIPULATE; THEY ALSO CAN BE DISABLED, ONCE THEIR MISSION IS OVER. IN LAB-TESTS WITH CELL-CULTURES, THESE TOP-GUNS PERFORMED ADMIRABLY: FOUR DAYS AFTER EXPOSURE TO THIS NEW SYSTEM, NEARLY 60-PERCENT OF BREAST-CANCER-CELLS WERE KILLED--COMPARED TO ONLY 12-PERCENT, WHEN TREATED WITH MEDICATION ALONE. THE METHOD SHOWS PROMISE AS A DELIVERY-SYSTEM FOR MEDICATIONS THAT TREAT OTHER DISEASES, AS WELL. 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.
