Tiny “bullet” promising in cutting-edge nanotechnology therapy

CHARLOTTE - The microscopic machines author Michael Crichton turned into swarming predators for his 2002 bestseller Prey drew popular attention to the science of nanotechnology.

Today productive uses for these tiny engines are being researched at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and will be the topic of a regional conference on campus in October.

“(Prey) talked about the scary aspects of nanotechnology, but it’s nowhere near that in practice,” said Ken Gonsalves, a UNC Charlotte chemistry professor who researches the use of nanotechnology in treatments for cancer and muscular dystrophy.



While Crichton’s novel concentrates on technology literally gone wild, Gonsalves - along with Tom Schmedake, a UNC Charlotte chemistry professor, along with Craig Halberstadt and Qi Lu, researchers at Carolinas Medical Center – are working to create new medical treatments using tiny manmade materials about 1,000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair.

In their gene therapy study, UNC Charlotte researchers are creating “a kind of Trojan Horse” that can enter a cell and rectify what’s wrong at the DNA level, Gonsalves explained.

“We’re actually correcting the machinery of the cell to make it function the way it should,” he said, adding that this application looks promising in treating muscular dystrophy and may play an important role in creating new tissues to replace ligaments, tendons, muscle, bone and even neurological tissue.

Another area of nanotechnology research at UNC Charlotte is polar dynamic therapy to fight cancer. In this therapy, the “machine” goes to the tumorous cell site, enters it and generates energy inside the cell.

“The idea is a target bullet to go to the cell and create a burst of energy that destroys the cancerous cell but not the healthy cells surrounding it,” Gonsalves said.

Gonsalves feels that medicine is just one area to benefit from nanotechnology research. He also is conducting on-going research with Intel and Semantech to make computer chips smaller. And nanotechnology is being used in electronics, imaging, optics and other fields.

“Nanotechnology still seems so new to the average person, but its benefits are becoming part of everyone’s life. As your laptop becomes smaller and lighter, that’s nanotechnology at work,” he said.

The Nanoscale Science and Engineering Conference at UNC Charlotte’s Barnhardt Student Activity Center Oct. 24-25 will feature experts from the US Naval Research Laboratory, National Institutes of Health, Oak Ridge National Laboratories, National Cancer Institute and National Institute of Environmental Health Services, among others. It is expected to draw researchers, policy makers and students from both Carolinas, Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia.

For more information on the conference, go to http://www.chem.uncc.edu/nanotechcon/home.htm .