Nano Medicine

[Guest guest]

New Journal is 'Sci-Fi' Reality

Medicine of the future may come in doses the size of an atom,

slipping through the tiniest opening in the membrane of a cell to

fix what's wrong inside -- perhaps setting off a self-destruct

program in a cancer cell or repairing the damaged chromosomes in

another.

That is the vision of scientists working in the emerging field of

nanomedicine, an offshoot of the broader field of nanotechnology,

which is developing molecule-sized mechanical devices.

Medical researchers are excited by the thought that they may be able

to harness these molecular machines to treat diseases.

Now, a San engineer is helping to launch a professional

journal aimed at magnifying the field. Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology,

Biology and Medicine will debut in March.

" When I started in this field seven years ago, I thought this

sounded a lot like sci-fi, " said Tachung Yih, a nanotechnology

researcher and chairman of mechanical engineering at the University

of Texas at San .

" Now we have nanomedicine. It's grown very rapidly in recent years

with promising applications in cancer cells, stem cell labeling and

DNA damage repair. "

Yih and Dr. Chiming Wei, director of cardiothoracic-renal molecular

research at s Hopkins University in Baltimore, will be the first

editors of the journal, which will publish quarterly and feature

eight to 10 peer-reviewed technical articles in each issue.

The journal will be the official publication of the new American

Academy of Nanomedicine, a professional association of scientists

working in that field.

A nanometer is one billionth of a meter, about the size of a single

atom.

Engineers and medical researchers are collaborating on things like

miniature implantable pumps for drug delivery or sensors that can

scan the body for infectious agents or metabolic imbalances.

Nanomedicine could provide a way for doctors to identify and attack

cancer cells or to repair the genetic damage in a cell that causes

cancer to arise, Wei said.

" We hope this journal will provide a new focal point for efforts to

advance this revolutionary technology for maintaining and restoring

human health, " he said.

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Story from REDNOVA NEWS:

http://www.rednova.com/news/display/?id=127705

Published: 2005/02/15 00:00:00 CST