Nanomedicine, Pavilion of Knowledge (Portugal), May 6-7, 2011
02.7.2011Nanotechnology innovations promise new clinical solutions for different diseases. What can we expect, and what risks do we run?
How does nanomedicine work?
Nanokit
The nanokit allows you to explore the world of nanoscience and nanotechnology
through interactive and exciting activities.
How can a gecko facilitate a surgery?
This tape is based on the ability of the gecko to adhere to surfaces regardless
of its orientation. This happens due to the presence of millions of microscopic
hairs on the gecko's toes that act by the electrostatics principle. This can
have several applications, such as in internal bandages.
What if your doctor used gelatine to treat a fracture?
Hydrogels made of natural or synthetic polymers are used mainly in tissue
engineering as scaffolds. They can be used as space filling agents, as delivery
vehicles for bioactive molecules and as 3D structures that organize cells and
present stimuli to guide the formation of a desired tissue. We produced some
hydrogel solutions in our lab, and built a 3D model to explain how hydrogel can
be modified in order to improve the success of therapy.
Did you know that gold is not always golden?
Some pregnancy tests use the light-absorbing property of gold particles to
detect human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), an hormone formed only in the human
placenta during pregnancy, and excreted in the urine. The pregnancy test result
is given by formation of a red line, due to the agglomeration of the gold
nanoparticles in the window area. We have built a pregnancy test model in order
to explain how it works.
Is there a relationship between cotton candy and tissue regeneration?
By comparing it to cotton candy, we have seen how electrospining fibers are
produced and its possible applications at the medical field, as biological
bateries or as scafolds. One of the present chalanges is to organize these
nanofibers in such a way to potentiate its value, namelly in formation of neural
circuits.
Shrink 100,000 times: rest in a giant cell and find out how it interacts with nanoparticles
In a tumor context, nanoparticles are injected in the blood stream,
accumulating near the tumor area. At that point, the nanoparticles specifically
bind to the tumor cells targeted for therapy. This specificity is achieved
through the presence of specific “keys” (e.g. antibodies) coupled with
nanoparticles, which will only recognize and bind to its “complementary lockers”
exclusively present on the target cells (e.g. specific proteins markers).
Nanoparticles can also be used to treat other pathologies by the same principle,
as cardiovascular or ischemic diseases. Instead of drugs targeted for promoting
cell death, they can carry growth factors and adhesion proteins, inducing cell
proliferation and migration.
By the help of a maze game, a nanoparticle and a giant cell, it was easier to
understant these concepts.
Get inside a giant carbon nanotube
Carbon nanotubes are also present in today’s medical research in the fields of
efficient drug delivery and biosensing methods for disease treatment and health
monitoring.
Photography Exhibition - Zoom in, Zoom out Nanoscale
Debate
May 6 | 3pm
"Nanomedicine - pros and cons"
Joăo Nuno Moreira, Centre for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, FFUC
Sónia Fraga, REQUIMTE, Department of Toxicology, FFUP
Joăo Arriscado Nunes, Social Studies Centre, UC
Collaborators: Chefaro, 3B’s.
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