Animals in Scientific Research
Science of the Future - Nanotechnology
The emerging field of nanoscience and nanotechnology, which builds upon knowledge from the fields of molecular biology, chemistry, physics, engineering, computer science, and electronics, is another example of the further integration of multiple disciplines for the advancement of medicine. Nanotechnology can be described as the science of assembling materials one atom at a time.
Such inventions as the scanning tunneling microscope, when combined with the atomic force microscope, enable nanoengineers to see the atoms they are working with and piece them together in different ways.
Once considered the domain of science fiction writers, nanotechnology got its jump start when a third form of pure carbon was discovered in 1991. Previously, carbon was thought to exist in only two pure forms—diamonds and graphite. Now, nanoengineers are manipulating these carbon molecules, known as buckminsterfullerenes (and commonly referred to as “bucky balls” because their spherical structure containing 60 carbon atoms are arranged like the hexagonal pattern on a soccer ball) to act as atomic soldiers in the war on disease.
Although some applications are decades away, scientists believe that it is only a matter of time before they will be able to use the principles of nanotechnology to build machines to fit inside cells and repair DNA or other cellular structures. Already, researchers are inserting drug-coated fullerenes inside the HIV virus to prevent it from replicating. Biomedical scientist Shuming Nie, who holds a joint appointment at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, is testing the use of nanoparticles to dramatically improve clinical diagnostic tests for the early detection of cancer. The nanoparticles, called quantum dots, glow and act as markers on cells and genes, which enables scientists to rapidly analyze biopsy tissue. Scientists are also exploring the possibility of using nanorobots to kill bacteria mechanically by chopping them up, which could eliminate the problem of bacteria mutating and becoming resistant to antibiotics. In addition, scientists are working on loading fullerenes with drugs or radioactive atoms and then aiming them—like smart bombs—at cancer cells.
Scientists have used nanotechnology to make cancer-destroying nuclear molecules; monoclonal antibodies conjugated to alpha particle-emitting actinium-225. The molecules explode inside cancer cells and destroy them with blasts of radiation. Dr. David Scheinberg, from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, said:
“We have found an effective way of containing and then delivering this highly potent element directly into cancer cells.”
The technology was tested on human cancers in vitro as well as on mice. The mouse studies merely duplicated the in vitro work.
Technology—like artificial neural networks and nanoscience—continues to be the driving force behind the most remarkable and worthwhile advancements in biomedical research today. And while it is true that animal models have been used to test whether x-rays and MRI scanners can visualize tissues, in most cases this was done after the devices were tested on humans. In many cases, such as with artificial mitral valves, animal models derailed the technology. As you will see, it is technological innovation combined with human-based research that is making a difference in patient care.
|
