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Gold Beads Can Fight Cancer, Too

Posted by timothy on from the au-cut-that-out dept.

descil writes "In addition to the Reovirus story posted earlier, Health Central reports that nanoscopic gold-coated beads can be used to kill cancerous cells, while leaving other tissues undamaged. The researchers tested their technique on human breast cancer cells and on cancerous tumors grown on mice. In each case, the combination of nanoshells and near-infrared light caused irreversible heat damage to tumor cells while leaving surrounding tissue unharmed."

2 of 27 comments (clear)

  1. Comparison by Vaevictis666 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Looks like the two methods are about the same effectiveness (though the reovirus has been tested in more types of cancer) - but which one is cheaper? I'd wager the one that doesn't involve gold, and is self-replicating.

    1. Re:Comparison by bersl2 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The amount of gold they're talking about is probably less than the amount in a computer. Nanoscopic gold isn't that incredibly expensive.

      (Warning: I did not RTFA.)