When small is great

"Nanotechnology is expected to be the basis of many of the main technological innovations of the 21st century. Research and development in this field is growing rapidly throughout the world. A major output of this activity is the development of new materials in the nanometre scale, including nanoparticles. These are usually defined as particulate materials with at least one dimension of less than 100 nanometres (nm). One nanometre is 10-9 m. By comparison, a human hair is approximately 70,000 nm in diameter, a red blood cell is approximately 5,000 nm wide and simple organic molecules have sizes ranging from 0.5 to 5 nm"

CAMBRIDGE, MA--MIT scientists have devised remotely controlled nanoparticles that, when pulsed with an electromagnetic field, release drugs to attack tumors. The innovation, reported in the Nov. 15 online issue of Advanced Materials, could lead to the improved diagnosis and targeted treatment of cancer.

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