Diamonds: Not Just Wealth but Health?

Crystallized carbon has caused all kinds of trouble throughout human history, with the shiny rocks causing (and continuing to cause) bloodshed and strife by their high market value.  But now diamonds have a real intrinsic value other than "looking pretty", with mass-produced nanodiamonds helping to cure cancers.

Researchers at Northwestern University, Chicago, are using nanodiamond patches to deliver drugs to recovering surgery sites.  Certain chemicals can greatly reduce the risk of lingering cells restarting all the cellular trouble after a tumor has been removed.  The problem is that getting those drugs into the system can either result in flooding the entire body with the agent, with all manner of unwanted effects, or using site-specific implanted patches which give up their contents all too quickly.

Unless they're made of nanodiamonds.  Thanks to their large biocompatible surfaces, the clusters of mini-gems can hold large reserves of many different kinds of agents which are slowly released over a period of months.  This can continue treatment of the affected region without supervision or constant surgery.

Don't worry, you won't have to choose between your wedding band and a healthy body.  The diamonds used in this work are mass-manufactured nanomaterials, widely used in applications from medical treatments to automobile lubricants.  The crystal-carbon structure is extremely versatile in the burgeoning field of nanotechnology, and could soon be worth far more to the species as a whole than a few rich specimens at the top.

Diamond isn't the only precious material to be radically repurposed - researchers at MIT are also working on using gold as a cancerbuster. There are plans to inject golden nanorods into tumor sites, where the mini-metals would strongly absorb infrared light and can therefore accurately target laser light on the unwanted tissue without affecting healthy material, burning the cancer right out of the body.

It seems that in this new age of information and nanotech, even gold and gems have to find new jobs.  Better ones.

Posted by Luke McKinney

Comments

[Barrie O'Leary]

How incredibly wonderful. Having just been cleared of cancer this week, I for one can genuinely appreciate the positive steps ahead for future generations. Research is vital everywhere. Support it.