For many, tattoos allow people to express their style. But did you know that in the near future, tattoos may become a means of treating disease? Diabetics who monitor their blood sugar levels often have endure many needle pricks every day. However, Heather Clark of Draper Laboratory in Massachusetts is developing a new tattoo ink that changes color based on glucose levels inside the skin.
So how does it work? The dye is made up of tiny plastic nanoparticles. When the glucose is low, the particle is yellow and fluorescent, but when glucose levels increase, the fluorescence goes away and the particles turn purple. Though this tattoo would have to be periodically re-injected because it would shed along with the skin, it's a major step up from the daily needle pricks!
Scientists hope that this technology will be up and running in the next five to ten years.
Source: Earth and Sky
Nano Tattoo for Diabetics
Oh My Aching Knees!
Understanding of the human body at the cellular and molecular level can help develop new and improved treatments for diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. At the University of Leeds, scientists have discovered a new mechenism involving a naturally-occurring protein, thioredoxin, that controls ion channels. Ion channels are proteins on the surface of the cell that act as doorways in and out of the cell. These doorways can let electrically charged atoms (ions) across the cell membrane to carry out different functions, such as blood glucose regulating, heart beat timing, and pain transmission.
Thioredoxin has been found to activate these doorways by donating electrons to it, in a process that Professor Beech compares to "an electronic on-switch". People with inflammatory diseases have high production levels of this thioredoxin protein to protect the body from the stressful and damaging chemical reactions that occur with inflammation. By studying and mimicking this protein, scientists may be able to develop safer and more effective therapeutics.
Source: ‘Electronic switch’ opens doors in rheumatoid joints
Image Source: Wikipedia
Hate Needles? Now NanoPass needles offer painless vaccinations...
Most people would prefer to take pills over vaccination, but a new Israeli startup company, NanoPass Technologies, is hoping to erase fears of needles with a new nanotechnology product, the NanoPass needle. This needle supposedly delivers injections without the painful side effects by avoiding the nerve endings of the skin. The tips of these needles are made of pure silicone crystals and measure less than one-micrometer in diameter.
The company claims the technology to be pain-free and easier to administer. The arrays of NanoPass MicroPyramid tips are manufactured in an industrial clean room, with high precision and high yield. The electron microscope picture (shown) is enlarged to 750 times its original size
Source: NanoPass needles set to vaccinate sans pain and MicroPyramid Technology by NanoPass
