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Pipes a Million Times Thinner Than Human Hair Could Deliver Personalized Therapies to Individual Cells
The 'world's tiniest plumbing system' might transform medicine by funneling drugs or proteins to precisely targeted organs and tissue
Science & Tech
Pipes a million times thinner than a human hair could deliver personalized therapies to individual cells, according to new research.
The ‘world’s tiniest plumbing system’ could transform medicine by funneling drugs, proteins, or molecules to precisely targeted organs and tissue—without any risk of side-effects.
It comprises microscopic tubes that self-assemble and can connect themselves to different biostructures.
US scientists from Johns Hopkins University in Maryland engineered a way that ensured the pipes are safe from infinitesimally small leaks.
“This study suggests very strongly it’s feasible to build nanotubes that don’t leak using these easy techniques for self-assembly, where we mix molecules in a solution and just let them form the structure we want,” said co-author Professor Rebecca Schulman.
“In our case, we can also attach these tubes to different endpoints to form something like plumbing.”
It’s a significant step toward creating the first network of its kind to combat a host of life-threatening diseases.
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https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/worlds-tiniest-plumbing-system-for-delivering-personal-medicine/