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One of the most astounding fields of biological science nowadays is that of nanomedicine. Nanomedicine involves applying nanotechnology to biological processes. Nanotechnology involves working with matter on the scale of atoms or molecules – in other words: very small. Applications of nanomedicine involve finding ways to deliver drugs that make them more available to the body. For example, by using nanoengineering, a drug can be targeted to a specific molecular target and delivered there with precision. This is far more efficient than the current method of getting a drug into the bloodstream then just hoping it reaches its target.
Nanoparticles can also be used, however, to directly target problematic areas in the body like blood clots or cancer tumors. Recently, researchers at Harvard University used drug-coated nanoparticles to dissolve blood clots. Other researchers at Case Western Reserve University used nanoparticles to deliver an anti-cancer drug to breast cancer tumor cells. With the use of nanomedicine, diseases like cancer and heart disease may one day be a thing of the past.
Animal models like this are an important step forward in understanding and treating diseases like Alzheimer’s. Perhaps most importantly, they provide scientists with a model of the disease in an organism they can test drugs on (something which they can’t do ethically in humans until they’ve shown the drugs to be safe). It also allows them to study changes in brain and body chemistry as the disease progresses, giving them more information about how a disease like Alzheimer’s develops.