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Friday, 31st October 2008 (775 views)

Online resource Research and Markets has released a new report highlighting the potential of nanotechnology - a field in which gold is frequently used - for medical research.

Entitled Drug Delivery Using Nanotechnologies: Technologies, Markets and Competitive Environment, it outlines the significance of the science for the pharmaceutical industry.

Nanotechnology is a "major enabler" for state-of-the-art alternatives to current drug delivery methods, the organisation notes.

It offers the potential to re-package previously insoluble drugs and offer greater stability in such treatments, it adds.

Gold has been used in numerous drug delivery studies, including cancer trials.

Recently, researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology in the US reported that they had developed unique star-shaped gold structures called nanostars.

The shape means that the particles could improve techniques in disease diagnosis, as well as developing sensors and identifying contraband.
Physicist Angela Walker said the devices could become the "stars of the nanoworld".

 

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