By Daniela Aguilera and Miguel Hormazábal
Nanotechnology is the branch of technology that deals with the development of high advanced functional materials, devices and systems through the control of matter on the nanometer length scale. Significant progress has been made in this area in the last decades and it is seen as one of the most important fields of technological development in the future. However, in the present, Nanotechnology is already a pivotal actor in the world of science and technology having big influence in all its sub disciplines. Having this in consideration, it is clear that the implications that nanotechnology brings along are tremendous. Together with the solutions there are the possible negative consequences that could affect the humankind such as the bad use of this powerful technology or the environmental issues it may cause.
WARM UP ACTIVITY:
For the teacher:
- Make a revision of the global concepts that embrace the topic such as nanotechnology and nanomedicine by using pictures. The following slides are recommended.
- Show students a short video about nanomedicine. The following video is recommended.
- Present vocabulary that student may find difficult. The following slide is recommended.
For the students:
- Match the images with the corresponding concept.
Note for the teacher: Give a clear definition for each concept after the students match them with the images. Give examples.
ACTIVITY I:
- Form five groups.
- Select one of texts below.
- Read the text and underline the vocabulary you do not know.
- Look up for the definitions of the underlined words.
- Write your own ideas about the text. Include advantages and disadvantages.
- Hand in the piece of writing to your teacher.
Note for the Teacher: The number of students per group will depend on the number of students per lesson.
Nanomedicine Application Area: Drug Delivery
One application of nanotechnology in medicine currently being developed involves employing nanoparticles to deliver drugs, heat, light or other substances to specific types of cells (such as cancer cells). Particles are engineered so that they are attracted to diseased cells, which allows direct treatment of those cells. This technique reduces damage to healthy cells in the body and allows for earlier detection of disease.
If you hate getting shots, you'll be glad to hear that oral administration of drugs that currently are delivered by injection may be possible in many cases. The drug is encapsulated in a nanoparticle which helps it pass through the stomach to deliver the drug into the bloodstream. There are efforts underway to develop oral administration of several different drugs using a variety of nanoparticles. A company which has progressed to the clinical testing stage for a drug for treating systemic fungal diseases is BioDelivery Scienes, which is using a particle called a nanocochleate.
Nanomedicine Application Area: Therapy Techniques
Nanoshells may be used to concentrate the heat from infrared light to destroy cancer cells with minimal damage to surrounding healthy cells. Nanospectra Biosciences has developed such a treatment using nanoshells illuminated by an infrared laser that has been approved for a pilot trial with human patients.
Nanoparticles, when activated by x-rays, generate electrons that cause the destruction of cancer cells to which they have attached themselves. Nanobiotix has released preclinical results for this technique .
Aluminosilicate nanoparticles can more quickly reduce bleeding in trauma patients. Z-Medica is producing a medical gauze that uses aluminosilicate nanoparticles.
Nanomedicine Application Area: Diagnostic and Imaging Techniques
Qdots may be used in the future for locating cancer tumors in patients and in the near term for performing diagnostic tests in samples. Invitrogen's website provides information about qdots that are available for both uses, although at this time the use "in vivo" (in a living creature) is limited to experiments with lab animals.
Nanoparticles can attach to proteins or other molecules, allowing detection of disease indicators in a lab sample at a very early stage. There are several efforts to develop nanoparticle disease detection systems underway. One system being developed by Nanosphere, Inc. uses gold nanoparticles, Nanosphere has clinical study results with their Verigene system involving its ability to detect four different nucleic acids, while another system being developed by T2 Biosystems uses magnetic nanoparticles to identify specimens, including proteins, nucleic acids, and other materials.
Nanomedicine Application Area: Anti-Microbial Techniques
The application of nanomaterials against pathogenic bacteria is a crucial step in the ongoing battle against these microorganisms because the increased development of bacterial resistance to traditional antibiotics has created a great need for the development of new antimicrobial agents. The application of nanomaterials as new antimicrobials should provide novel modes of action and/or different cellular targets compared with existing antibiotics. The unmet medical need for new antibiotics, coupled with revolutions in genomics, high-throughput screening and medicinal chemistry, has already spurred the drug industry to search for totally new agents that are effective in the treatment of bacterial disease caused by resistant organisms. As a result, new classes of compounds designed to avoid defined resistance mechanisms are undergoing clinical evaluation. The field of nanomaterials science has also provided novel materials with unique properties that make them suitable for the encapsulation of active molecules that may be harnessed for antimicrobial applications.
Nanomedicine Application Area: Cell Repair
Using drugs and surgery, doctors can only encourage tissues to repair themselves. With molecular machines, there will be more direct repairs. Cell repair will utilize the same tasks that living systems already prove possible. Access to cells is possible because biologists can stick needles into cells without killing them. Thus, molecular machines are capable of entering the cell. Also, all specific biochemical interactions show that molecular systems can recognize other molecules by touch, build or rebuild every molecule in a cell, and can disassemble damaged molecules. Finally, cells that replicate prove that molecular systems can assemble every system found in a cell. Therefore, since nature has demonstrated the basic operations needed to perform molecular-level cell repair, in the future, nanomachine based systems will be built that are able to enter cells, sense differences from healthy ones and make modifications to the structure.
ACTIVITY II:
In the same groups:
- Explain to the rest of the class the following points:
- Definition of the new vocabulary
- Main ideas about the text you read.
- Your own ideas regarding the text, including advantages and disadvantages.
Note for the teacher: Each member of the group should speak in this activity. Make sure you give clear instructions about that.
ACTIVITY III:
- Match the concepts with their corresponding definition or characteristic.
Note for the teacher: We recommend to hand in the following activity to each student and check the answers with all the class.
Column A
a) Drug Delivery
b) Cell Repair
c) Diagnostic and imaging techniques
d) Nanorobot
e) Anti-microbial techniques
f) Therapy techniques
g) Infrared Light
h) Antimicrobial agent
Column B
_____ Machines or robots at or close to the microscopic scale of a nanometer.
____ Using drugs and surgery, doctors can only encourage tissues to repair themselves. With molecular machines, there will be more direct repairs.
____ Particles are engineered so that they are attracted to diseased cells, which allows direct treatment of those cells.
____ Invisible electromagnetic radiation that has a longer wavelength than visible light and is detected most often by its heating effect
____ Nanoparticles can attach to proteins or other molecules, allowing detection of disease indicators in a lab sample at a very early stage.
____ The application of nanomaterials against pathogenic bacteria is a crucial step in the ongoing battle against these microorganisms because the increased development of bacterial resistance to traditional antibiotics has created a great need for the development of new antimicrobial agents.
____ Nanoshells may be used to concentrate the heat from infrared light to destroy cancer cells with minimal damage to surrounding healthy cells.
