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00:00:08;01 , 00:00:10;01 , What’s the big deal about nanotechnology?
00:00:10;21 , 00:00:12;03 , Could it lead to a cure for cancer?
00:00:12;14 , 00:00:14;16 , How about making cheaper and cleaner energy?
00:00:14;28 , 00:00:16;15 , Or even shirts that don’t stain?
00:00:16;13 , 00:00:21;03 , It’s all about being itsy-bitsy, teeny-weenie, super-duper small.
00:00:21;10 , 00:00:24;14 , Nanotechnology uses particles that are nanometers across –
00:00:24;14 , 00:00:26;16 , the size of atoms and molecules.
00:00:26;28 , 00:00:28;21 , A meter… is made up of…
00:00:28;21 , 00:00:30;29 , a BILLION nanometers.
00:00:30;29 , 00:00:31;11 , Imagine…
00:00:31;11 , 00:00:34;14 , comparing this meter stick to a super tiny nanometer…
00:00:34;14 , 00:00:36;28 , …is like comparing the width…
00:00:36;28 , 00:00:38;01 , …of the entire Earth…
00:00:38;27 , 00:00:40;06 , …to the width of this marble.
00:00:40;06 , 00:00:43;14 , Your fingers grow one nanometer every second.
00:00:43;14 , 00:00:46;26 , [ Mysterious music ]
00:00:47;10 , 00:00:50;02 , At the nanoscale, some materials, like gold…
00:00:50;02 , 00:00:51;04 , stop acting normal…
00:00:51;04 , 00:00:52;04 , and start exhibiting…
00:00:52;04 , 00:00:54;01 , …unexpected properties.
00:00:54;01 , 00:00:56;08 , [ echo] …stop acting normal…
00:00:56;08 , 00:00:57;05 , and start exhibiting
00:00:57;05 , 00:01:00;18 , unexpected properties.
00:01:01;18 , 00:01:03;22 , If you cut a gold brick in half…
00:01:03;18 , 00:01:04;09 , [ CHOP! ]
00:01:05;09 , 00:01:07;17 , Both halves still look gold and shiny.
00:01:07;17 , 00:01:08;24 , Cut smaller and smaller…
00:01:08;24 , 00:01:11;17 , [ Chopping ]
00:01:12;17 , 00:01:14;20 , It still looks gold and shiny.
00:01:14;20 , 00:01:16;12 , That is, until you get small enough
00:01:16;12 , 00:01:18;11 , to be at the nanoscale.
00:01:18;11 , 00:01:20;06 , [ Chopping ]
00:01:20;06 , 00:01:23;08 , What’s weird is that particles of gold fifty nanometers across
00:01:23;08 , 00:01:24;20 , like the ones in this liquid…
00:01:24;20 , 00:01:25;22 , look green.
00:01:25;22 , 00:01:27;23 , Even smaller particles look red.
00:01:28;06 , 00:01:31;27 , That’s because at the nanoscale, even small changes in size can lead to…
00:01:31;27 , 00:01:34;24 , …unexpected properties.
00:01:35;02 , 00:01:37;11 , And color isn’t the only way things act weird.
00:01:37;11 , 00:01:41;16 , All kinds of physical and chemical properties can change at the nanoscale.
00:01:41;16 , 00:01:42;22 , So why should you care?
00:01:44;07 , 00:01:47;27 , Doctors are working on ways to use nanoparticles to target and kill cancer cells.
00:01:47;27 , 00:01:50;29 , — without the horrible side effects of chemotherapy or radiation.
00:01:53;26 , 00:01:55;11 , By working on the nanoscale
00:01:55;11 , 00:01:57;02 , scientists are making solar power…
00:01:57;02 , 00:01:58;17 , and other kinds of renewable energy
00:01:58;17 , 00:02:00;22 , way more efficient, and cheaper.
00:02:01;18 , 00:02:02;20 , Whoa.
00:02:05;00 , 00:02:07;19 , Nano-based water filtration systems could provide
00:02:07;19 , 00:02:09;26 , fresh clean water to billions of people.
00:02:09;26 , 00:02:10;25 , Hello?!?
00:02:10;25 , 00:02:12;17 , That could help control water-borne diseases
00:02:12;17 , 00:02:13;21 , in developing countries.
00:02:13;21 , 00:02:17;05 , What is it with you? All you talk about is science!
00:02:17;05 , 00:02:20;04 , Other applications of nanotechnology could make our lives easier.
00:02:20;04 , 00:02:25;03 , For example, stainproof clothing, with tiny nanoscale fibers
00:02:27;23 , 00:02:30;19 , ¬øSabes qu?©? Sufficiente, me voy.
00:02:33;21 , 00:02:35;23 , But with the great potential of nanotechnology
00:02:35;23 , 00:02:37;12 , there also comes great risks.
00:02:37;25 , 00:02:40;08 , Nanoparticles are not necessarily harmless.
00:02:40;08 , 00:02:43;15 , For example, ingesting massive quantities of silver nanoparticles
00:02:43;15 , 00:02:45;15 , can permanently turn your skin blue.
00:02:45;15 , 00:02:47;14 , Blue! Blue!  Yaaaahhhh!
00:02:47;14 , 00:02:49;25 , Scientists are working to figure out what harmful effects
00:02:49;25 , 00:02:52;27 , nanoparticles might have on our bodies, other living creatures,
00:02:52;27 , 00:02:54;09 , and the environment.
00:02:56;15 , 00:02:58;09 , So where will nanotechnology lead?
00:02:58;09 , 00:03:00;29 , No one knows for sure, but big changes are coming
00:03:00;29 , 00:03:03;16 , from the tiny world of nanotechnology.

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00:00:07;16 , 00:00:10;07 , What if we could screen for thousands of diseases

00:00:10;07 , 00:00:13;18 , all at once…with just a single drop of blood

00:00:16;09 , 00:00:19;02 , What if we could search out and destroy cancer cells

00:00:19;02 , 00:00:22;19 , without surgery or chemotherapy?

00:00:26;24 , 00:00:29;14 , What if we could restore eyesight by injecting

00:00:29;14 , 00:00:31;13 , tiny particles that help the body

00:00:31;13 , 00:00:33;06 , repair injured nerves?

00:00:37;14 , 00:00:39;16 , These scenarios may seem far-fetched

00:00:39;16 , 00:00:41;13 , but they are among the long term goals

00:00:41;13 , 00:00:45;11 , of researchers working in the new field of nanomedicine.

00:00:46;24 , 00:00:49;09 , But what is nanomedicine?

00:00:49;09 , 00:00:51;13 , Nanomedicine is the application of

00:00:51;13 , 00:00:53;23 , nanotechnology to medicine.

00:00:55;03 , 00:00:57;29 , Nanotechnology is the science of the small,

00:00:57;29 , 00:01:00;20 , the science, and now these days, also the

00:01:00;20 , 00:01:03;20 , engineering and applications of very small structures.

00:01:03;20 , 00:01:05;19 , It’s kind of like a giant game of Lego

00:01:05;19 , 00:01:08;01 , only it is very small and the building blocks

00:01:08;01 , 00:01:09;28 , are molecules and atoms.

00:01:10;02 , 00:01:12;02 , If you look in biology

00:01:12;02 , 00:01:13;29 , most of the components of your cells

00:01:13;29 , 00:01:17;16 , and all of your proteins are all nanoscale objects.

00:01:19;09 , 00:01:21;19 , So what doctors need are tiny tools

00:01:21;19 , 00:01:23;14 , that can work with fantastic precision

00:01:23;14 , 00:01:24;28 , at the nanoscale

00:01:24;28 , 00:01:28;12 , the size of the smallest working parts of our bodies

00:01:30;07 , 00:01:32;15 , Nanotechnology has created so many

00:01:32;15 , 00:01:36;23 , materials with really unique and distinctive features.

00:01:36;23 , 00:01:39;17 , It gives us a new toolbox to try and address

00:01:39;17 , 00:01:41;19 , many unmet medical needs.

00:01:41;21 , 00:01:44;13 , How do you bring the drug to the right place?

00:01:44;13 , 00:01:46;19 , How do you avoid the biological barriers?

00:01:46;19 , 00:01:49;25 , These are problems that are very well-suited for a solution

00:01:49;25 , 00:01:52;01 , that is a teamwork solution.

00:01:53;04 , 00:01:55;10 , Hundreds of teams of researchers

00:01:55;10 , 00:01:58;18 , are exploring exciting new ways to better diagnose

00:01:58;18 , 00:02:01;16 , and treat disease through nanomedicine.

00:02:02;05 , 00:02:04;18 , Each new technique will need to go through

00:02:04;18 , 00:02:07;18 , years of testing to ensure that it will work

00:02:07;18 , 00:02:09;05 , and that it will be safe.

00:02:10;06 , 00:02:13;16 , I think that nanomedicine is going to bring us

00:02:13;16 , 00:02:16;03 , a number of really significant breakthroughs

00:02:16;03 , 00:02:17;17 , in the coming years.

00:02:17;17 , 00:02:19;14 , It’s also going to allow us to evolve

00:02:19;14 , 00:02:21;05 , some of the current technologies

00:02:21;05 , 00:02:23;09 , into things that work a little bit better.

00:02:23;09 , 00:02:25;26 , If it is one of many ways, that’s also very exciting

00:02:25;26 , 00:02:29;01 , because the bottom line is that we want people to be well.

About this story

One of the most difficult aspects of cancer diagnosis is determining whether the cancer has begun to spread or ‘metastasize’ from its initial or ‘primary’ tumor site to other areas. The treatment options can be very different depending on the answer to this question.

In this story, Ralph Weissleder and Mukesh Harisinghani tell how they collaborated on the design of a clinical trial to determine if an injection of specially-designed iron-oxide nanoparticles could enhance a diagnostic image produced by an MRI machine to the extent that the spread of cancer could be accurately assessed.

At least in the case of prostate cancer, as Dr. Weissleder tells our producer in this story, “The results were stunning.”

Additional information

This iron-oxide nanoparticle enhanced MRI diagnostic technique is one of many exciting new applications of nano­technology to the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer currently under investigation.

A good website to learn about other research is nano.cancer.gov. The iron-oxide nanoparticle diagnostic system (which also goes by the trade name Combidex®) has not yet been approved for use in the United States.

Other relevant sites:

• Ralph Weissleder
• Mukesh Harisinghani
• Amag Pharmaceuticals

A key aspect of nanomedicine is the extraordinary cross-disciplinary collaborations formed – sometimes almost serendipitously- between researchers in different fields.

We especially liked this story because the researchers (physicist Naomi Halas and bioengineer Jennifer West, both from Rice University) were able to describe to us so delightfully how they came together and hatched an idea that could someday lead to relief for millions of cancer patients. But of course the road from the lab to the cure leads through many twists
and turns…

Additional information

Dr. Halas and Dr. West’s experimental cancer therapy is
only one of many different new nanomedicine-based approaches to cancer treatment currently in the pipeline. A good website to learn about other research is nano.cancer.gov.

Though tested in laboratory animals, gold nanoshell cancer therapy (which goes by the trade name AuroLase™) still needs to undergo a full course of human clinical trials before it can be approved for regular use with cancer patients.

Other relevant sites:

• Halas Nanophotonics Group
• Jennifer West
• Nanospectra Biosciences, Inc.

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00:00:04;28 , 00:00:06;18 , In the first experiment that was performed,

00:00:06;18 , 00:00:07;26 , there were approximately ten mice,

00:00:07;26 , 00:00:09;27 , and all of the mice survived that were treated.

00:00:09;27 , 00:00:11;21 , This experiment consisted of having

00:00:11;21 , 00:00:12;18 , three groups of mice.

00:00:12;18 , 00:00:14;15 , We had one group that was treated

00:00:14;15 , 00:00:15;24 , with nanoshell therapy;

00:00:15;24 , 00:00:18;05 , one group that was completely untreated;

00:00:18;05 , 00:00:20;18 , and a third group that was treated

00:00:20;18 , 00:00:22;21 , in a therapy that looked like

00:00:22;21 , 00:00:25;04 , the nanoshell therapy, except when

00:00:25;04 , 00:00:27;13 , the nanoshell solution was injected,

00:00:27;13 , 00:00:29;14 , they injected just saline solution

00:00:29;14 , 00:00:30;16 , without nanoshells.

00:00:30;16 , 00:00:32;14 , So they went through the whole laser treatment,

00:00:32;14 , 00:00:35;08 , but it was a laser treatment without nanoshells.

00:00:35;08 , 00:00:37;13 , So, of the three treatments,

00:00:37;13 , 00:00:39;18 , only the nanoshell treated mice

00:00:39;18 , 00:00:41;14 , showed a remission of tumors,

00:00:41;14 , 00:00:42;16 , and within two weeks,

00:00:42;16 , 00:00:44;19 , all of the tumors had disappeared,

00:00:44;19 , 00:00:47;00 , and the tumors never reappeared.

00:00:47;03 , 00:00:48;04 , From the time that we did

00:00:48;04 , 00:00:49;06 , the nanoshell treatment,

00:00:49;06 , 00:00:50;12 , within ten days,

00:00:50;12 , 00:00:53;00 , the tumors had completely disappeared,

00:00:53;00 , 00:00:55;21 , and were completely undetectable in the animals.

00:00:55;21 , 00:00:56;29 , Most scientists will tell you

00:00:56;29 , 00:00:59;06 , almost nothing ever works the first time -

00:00:59;06 , 00:01:02;00 , things usually fail – and you spend your time

00:01:02;00 , 00:01:03;25 , trying to figure out why did this go wrong

00:01:03;25 , 00:01:04;25 , and why did that go wrong

00:01:04;25 , 00:01:06;23 , and how can I make this work?