Purdue News Photo
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This triangular particle, which is about 25 billionths of a meter across, could become one of nanotechnology's contributions to the fight against cancer. Three strands of RNA – a close chemical cousin of DNA – are linked together to form this "nanoparticle," created in the lab of Purdue University's Peixuan Guo. Each of the strands is spliced together from two kinds of RNA – one sort serves as a scaffold and dovetail to hold the particle together; while the other carries a hunter to find cancer cells, a marker to detect the target, or genetic instructions deadly to a cancer cell. The nanoparticles have already proven effective against cancer growth in living mice as well as lab-grown human nasopharlyngeal carcinoma and breast cancer cells.
(Graphic by Guo Laboratories)
The story accompanying this photograph can be seen by clicking this link to Guo.nanoparticles
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David Umberger
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umberger@purdue.edu
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