http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2009/September/02090903.asp
I personally believe that if scientists are able to release nanocapsules in the body to help treat cancer patients it will be a big step in science and medicine. The article explains that the nanocapsule would release the medicine at a response to a change in pH. Although I have a few questions for them. How are you going to be able to adjust the pH levels in someones body to make sure that the medicine is released? Is it possible to change someones pH levels or are they going to just have to take another medication is order for the medicine to be released? How would they know if the nanocapsule is delivering the medicine and that it is working? This article really interested me because my stepmother is a cancer survivor and taking all the medications was not something anyone would want to see. If they are able to produce this nanocapsule for people to take, I think it would make more cancer patients feel at ease. This really could be a break-through in helping more people survive their battle with cancer.
Posted by Taylor Brown
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It actually answers your question in the paper you linked to, allow me to quote:
ReplyDelete"Alberto Credi, an expert in nanomachinery at the University of Bologna, Italy, believes the work is particularly important as the pH in tumour cells is very different from healthy cells, making pH 'a very good trigger for delivering anticancer drugs'."
Indeed, you wouldn't want to change the pH in someone's body by taking a pill, I'm pretty sure that would be bad, and would also result in the nanocapsules releasing their load throughout the body, which would defy the very point of these nanocapsules.