Gold Nano Particles Fry Cancer on Glowing Mice

Research Question:

The research question that is proposed in this article is, “Can cancer be beat with the use of the gold nano particles?” With the use of bio luminescence and frequency vibrations they are able to pinpoint the cancer cells and attack them in test mice. While the research has positive prospects, more work and testing must be done to verify how accurate this type of treatment can be.

Experimental Design:

The technique used to beat the tumors, in this case bladder tumors, was to attach a gold nano particle to the antibodies of the mice, and then those antibodies seek out and find EDFR’s on the surface of the bladder tumor. EDFR’s are proteins that are heavily present on tumors such as bladder tumors, but not found on healthy cells in the body. So since these bladder tumors are heavily present with this EDFR protein, the researchers decided to attack the tumor at the point that was easiest to get to and attack. Then once the gold nano particle is attached and the hooked on to the EDFR the mouse are the put through a test in which they experience frequency vibrations that react to light. And when under the right amount of light, the transfer of light to the particle creates the gold nano particles to heat up and basically implode, or fry, while attached to the cancerous protein. This evaporates what makes the tumor able to grow, and then causes the tumor to gradually decrease in size over time, to a point of non-existance. This technique is one that is very similar to the use of a “Trojan horse”, attacking the “enemy” (in this case, cancer) on the inside with it’s own resources. The researchers, when looking at the results say, “It’s been an interesting problem-solving experience pursuing this technique from a futuristic idea to show something that now shows real promise in animal models”; and as they claim, if more trials prove successful it could be time to move the testing to human subjects.

Citation:

University of Colorado Anschultz Medical Campus.

“Gold nano particles fry cancer on glowing mice.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 30 August 2017.

<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/08/170830202133.htm>.