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Look close. You may be staring at the end of cancer. Those tiny black dots are nanobots delivering a lethal blow to a cancerous cell, effectively killing it. The first trial on humans has been a success, with no side-effects:

It sneaks in, evades the immune system, delivers the siRNA, and the disassembled components exit out.

Those are the words of Mark Davis, head of the research team that created the nanobot anti-cancer army at the California Institute of Technology. According to a study to be published in Nature, Davis' team has discovered a clean, safe way to deliver RNAi sequences to cancerous cells. RNAi (Ribonucleic acid interference) is a technique that attacks specific genes in malign cells, disabling functions inside and killing them.

The 70-nanometer attack bots—made with two polymers and a protein that attaches to the cancerous cell's surface—carry a piece of RNA called small-interfering RNA (siRNA), which deactivates the production of a protein, starving the malign cell to death. Once it has delivered its lethal blow, the nanoparticle breaks down into tiny pieces that get eliminated by the body in the urine.

The most amazing thing is that you can send as many of these soldiers as you want, and they will keep attaching to the bad guys, killing them left, right, and center, and stopping tumors. According to Davis, "the more [they] put in, the more ends up where they are supposed to be, in tumour cells." While they will have to finish the trials to make sure that there are no side-effects whatsoever, the team is very happy with the successful results and it's excited about what's coming:

What's so exciting is that virtually any gene can be targeted now. Every protein now is druggable. My hope is to make tumours melt away while maintaining a high quality of life for the patients. We're moving another step closer to being able to do that now.

Phoenix_Saturn

Mar 29 2010, 03:10 PM

The only problem I see is that these nanos could be very expensive, and they could potentially malfunction and attack healthy cells.

Yves

Mar 29 2010, 03:20 PM

Phoenix_Saturn

Mar 29 2010, 03:10 PM

The only problem I see is that these nanos could be very expensive, and they could potentially malfunction and attack healthy cells.

This is true. I don't know about the expense, but these things are definitely going to be dangerous if they attack the wrong cells or even the wrong proteins.

That said, every treatment has its risks. You can be allergic to a vaccination, or have an unusually strong reaction to chemotherapy. Medicine in general isn't safe.

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True, but this has a much higher risk factor than a potential allergy, as it has the potential to affect everyone and not just a select few people in the case of an allergic reaction.

Spin

Mar 29 2010, 03:24 PM

The fact that they have killed cancerous cells is a pretty good breakthrough in itself. Sure, it may not be perfect and could have malfunctions, but it's definitely a step in the right direction.

Bowie

Mar 29 2010, 09:33 PM

I hope this is the real deal because if we can kill Cancer with methods like this, maybe they'd be effective on HIV/AIDs as well as a precise countermeasure.

Master of Darkness

Mar 30 2010, 07:26 AM

Bowie

Mar 29 2010, 09:33 PM

I hope this is the real deal because if we can kill Cancer with methods like this, maybe they'd be effective on HIV/AIDs as well as a precise countermeasure.

The possibilities are endless it would seem.

But as likely as it could be used as a cure, chances are it was most likely originally conceived as a weapon. And if not, people are going to come up with some messed up stuff pretty quickly.

The real dark side of humanity is about to appear.

Master of Darkness

Mar 30 2010, 07:26 AM

Bowie

Mar 29 2010, 09:33 PM

I hope this is the real deal because if we can kill Cancer with methods like this, maybe they'd be effective on HIV/AIDs as well as a precise countermeasure.

The possibilities are endless it would seem.

But as likely as it could be used as a cure, chances are it was most likely originally conceived as a weapon. And if not, people are going to come up with some messed up stuff pretty quickly.

The real dark side of humanity is about to appear.

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If this treatment is as substantial a breakthrough as this article portrays it to be, then I assume it would be all over the media by now. In my opinion, cancer will continue to plague humankind for years to come.