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Monday, 29th December 2008 (6499 views)

Identifying and treating cancerous material could become more "specific and effective" due to advances in nanotechnology, it has been claimed.

An article on the website of SPIE - an international body that works to promote light-based technology - states that the field of nanotechnology could offer benefits to cancer treatment.

It notes that researchers from all over the world are developing applications using nanoparticles made of various materials, including metals such as gold.

The piece highlights the work of teams at the University of Amsterdam and Massachusetts General Hospital, which focuses on creating medical imaging technology using gold nanoparticles.

Researcher Dirk Faber told the site: "The advantages of nanoparticles are that you can bind them to anything you want to and they can be designed to have really good contrast."

In related news, scientists from Sweden's Lund University have shown how to develop gold nanowires at a single atomic level from gold 'seeds'.

Please see SPIE's longer article for more technical detail.

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