Micro-Medicine

Finding more effective cures for cancer involves two kinds of research: gaining a better understanding of the tumours themselves to identify the most useful targets, and engineering therapies which are less difficult for patients to bear. Researchers working on this latter question have designed microparticles, aggregates of molecules loaded with anti-cancer drugs, which could deliver treatments to tumours in a more precise way, and with fewer side-effects. Pictured are whole mouse lungs into which these microparticles, in pink, have been injected through the windpipe, the remnants of which can be seen in the centre of the image. The microparticles could be taken up more easily than current treatments, using an inhaler, and would progressively release the drugs over time, meaning that fewer doses might be required. Though this technique is some way from being implemented in patients, it highlights how advances in biotechnology could revolutionise the field of medicine.

Written by Emmanuelle Briolat

Emmanuelle Briolat

Writer

A researcher specialising in visual signals in Lepidoptera, camouflage and the effects of light pollution, Emmanuelle’s writing covers a range of topics, from biomedical research to children’s books about moth defences.

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• Image by Wellcome Image Award Finalists Gregory Szeto, Adelaide Tovar and Jeffrey Wyckoff
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
• Copyright held by the Wellcome Trust
• Research published in Advanced Materials, May 2012