Two decades ago, the nanotechnology revolution avoided stumbling by bringing a wide range of people to the table to chart its development. The window is closing fast on AI following suit.
Nanoparticles have contributed to profound medical advances like the COVID-19 vaccine, but without oversight, they pose ethical and environmental issues.
Cardiovascular disease and cancer share many parallels in their origins and how they develop. Nanoparticles offer one potential way to effectively treat both with reduced side effects.
The proteins that cover nanoparticles are essential to understanding how they work in the body. Across 17 proteomics facilities in the US, less than 2% of the identified proteins were identical.
The COVID-19 mRNA vaccines put nanomedicine in the spotlight as a potential way to treat diseases like cancer and HIV. While the field isn’t there yet, better design could help fulfill its promise.
Robert Langer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Moderna co-founder Robert Langer developed the process that made COVID-19 vaccines possible. He spoke about his journey helping develop the science for various lifesaving treatments.
Growing applications of nanotechnology include using nanorods for male birth control. The technique has had some success in animals, and offers the potential of human male contraception.
Some vaccine hesitancy is based on a fear of the nanoparticles used in mRNA vaccines. But humans have been interacting with nanoparticles for millennia, and we use nanotechnology-based devices every day.