Scientists hope to break new ground in cancer treatment using "DNA origami" - making it possible to deliver drugs from minuscule medicine cabinets made of DNA.
Jorgen Kjems of the Centre for DNA Nanotechnology at Aarhus University, Denmark, and colleagues claim that a self-assembling DNA "box" created by them, which can be opened with DNA "keys", may one day be filled with drugs, injected into the blood, and then unlocked when and where the drugs are required.
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Lithium, a drug widely used to treat bipolar mood disorder, may also help radiation target cancer and spare healthy tissue, according to a study.
Lithium, a drug widely used to treat bipolar mood disorder, may also help radiation target cancer and spare healthy tissue, according to a study.
The researcher, whose technique exploited the fact that complementary DNA bases attach to each other, used small sections of DNA to "sew" two parts of a longer single DNA strand together, creating folds to carve out the map's shape.
Kjems' research team have now come up with the first piece of 3D DNA origami, by sewing six 2D surfaces together to form a cuboid that measures 42 nanometres by 36nm by 36nm.
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Scientists at Harvard Medical School have found that very dissimilar reactions take place even in genetically similar cells. This could be significant for cancer treatment.
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They say that the keys are built from a strand of DNA that displaces this security strand because it binds more strongly to the sequence of bases on the lid. This unlocks the box, they add.
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Patient Knowledge of Health Information Influences Cancer Treatment
A new analysis finds that when colorectal cancer patients seek out health information from the internet and news media, they are more likely to be aware of and receive the latest treatments
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Given that they can be designed to open only if more than one key is used, or with one of a number of keys, such DNA boxes may also be used as logic gates in future computers.
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Molecular "Decoy": A Promising Cancer Treatment
French specialists have unveiled a new weapon against cancer, a molecular decoy that mimics DNA damage and prompts cancerous cells to kill themselves.
French specialists have unveiled a new weapon against cancer, a molecular decoy that mimics DNA damage and prompts cancerous cells to kill themselves.
