PRATT materials News

  • August 15, 2007

    Molecular "Fishing"

    Technologies that permit fast chemical measurement have myriad applications in medicine, the environment and food safety monitoring. However, methods that rely on heat or changes in optical properties often require long sampling times and equipment not suitable for use in the field. Additionally, optical methods can only be used when the testing solution is clear, precluding their use on blood and any other opaque solution. Did you know? To detect the interactions between individual molecules, atomic ...
  •  
  • August 15, 2007

    Warm Targets

    Anti-cancer drugs are hazardous to cancers, but they are only slightly less so to healthy tissue. For example, the drug doxorubicin may efficiently jam the genetic machinery of rapidly dividing cancer cells, but it is also highly toxic to heart tissue. Such cardiac toxicity limits how much of the drug can be administered to patients. Benefit "The unprecedented rapid release of such large amounts of drug directly into the cancers' blood vessels--triggered only by mild focused heating--seems ...
  •  
  • August 15, 2007

    Drugs that Deliver

    Chemotherapy often falls short of achieving its full impact because the drugs diffuse in and out of tumors too rapidly. That's because the small size of current chemotherapy drugs which typically have a molecular weight in the 300 to 600 range allow them to be readily excreted through the kidneys before their anti-cancer effects are fully achieved. Did you know? If you balance the ability of drug to penetrate tumors with its staying ...
  •  
  • February 13, 2007

    Molecular 'Fishing' Technique Paves Way for Advanced Hand-Held Sensing Devices

    A new molecular "fishing" technique developed by researchers at Duke University and Duke's Pratt School of Engineering lays the groundwork for future advances in hand-held sensing devices. Hand-held devices used for medical testing or environmental and food-safety monitoring could quickly and precisely measure concentrations of virtually any chemical substance, including blood proteins, toxic pollutants and dangerous biological agents, in a test solution, according to the researchers. The researchers describe the chemical methodology that would enable such devices ...
  •  
  • February 12, 2007

    Lubricant's Role in Keeping Joints Limber Comes into Sharper Focus

    Using a method that allows precise measurement of the biomechanical properties of the hip joints in mice, researchers at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering have found new evidence that an ingredient of joint fluid called lubricin plays a significant role in keeping joints limber. The researchers say the finding offers the strongest evidence yet that treatments designed to increase levels of lubricin in humans may help stall the deterioration of arthritic joints. The team found that ...
  •  
  • January 2, 2007

    Harnessing Fat to Attack Cancer

    Scientists at Duke University Medical Center and Duke's Pratt School of Engineering have harnessed the much maligned fat particle to serve a higher purpose: battling human cancers. The researchers have engineered microscopic fat bubbles into "smart bombs" by packing them with anticancer drugs and dispatching them on a mission to seek and destroy cancerous tumors. Heating the tumor from the outside with microwave energy attracts the anticancer bombs to the tumor, the scientists said. Within 20 seconds ...
  •  
  • June 1, 2006

    'Metal Sandwich' May Break Superconductor Record

    Aleksey Kolmogorov and Stefano Curtarolo After an exhaustive data search for new compounds, researchers at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering have discovered a theoretical "metal sandwich" that is expected to be a good superconductor. Superconductive materials have no resistance to the flow of electric current. The new lithium monoboride (LiB) compound is a "binary alloy" consisting of two layers of boron -- the "bread" of the atomic sandwich -- with lithium metal "filling" in between, the ...
  •  
  • June 1, 2006

    'Metal Sandwich' May Break Superconductor Record

    Aleksey Kolmogorov and Stefano Curtarolo After an exhaustive data search for new compounds, researchers at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering have discovered a theoretical "metal sandwich" that is expected to be a good superconductor. Superconductive materials have no resistance to the flow of electric current. The new lithium monoboride (LiB) compound is a "binary alloy" consisting of two layers of boron -- the "bread" of the atomic sandwich -- with lithium metal "filling" in between, the ...
  •  
  • June 1, 2006

    Robert Clark on Benefits, Challenges of Interdisciplinary Research Teaming

    Senior Associate Dean Robert Clark Duke mechanical engineer Robert Clark presented a keynote talk on the challenges and benefits of establishing a vibrant interdisciplinary research program at the International Symposium for Biologically-inspired Design and Engineering at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Clark, senior associate dean at the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke, is the director of Duke's Center for Biologically Inspired Materials and Material Systems (CBIMMS) (http://cbimms.duke.edu). CBIMMS, established in 2001, encompasses a broadly multidisciplinary research effort ...
  •  
  • June 1, 2006

    Robert Clark on Benefits, Challenges of Interdisciplinary Research Teaming

    Senior Associate Dean Robert Clark Duke mechanical engineer Robert Clark presented a keynote talk on the challenges and benefits of establishing a vibrant interdisciplinary research program at the International Symposium for Biologically-inspired Design and Engineering at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Clark, senior associate dean at the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke, is the director of Duke's Center for Biologically Inspired Materials and Material Systems (CBIMMS) (http://cbimms.duke.edu). CBIMMS, established in 2001, encompasses a broadly multidisciplinary research effort ...
  •  
  • May 11, 2006

    Duke's Robert Clark to Speak on Challenges and Benefits of Interdisciplinary Research Teaming - Keynote at International Symposium for Biologically-inspired Design and Engineering

    ATLANTA Duke mechanical engineer Robert Clark will present a keynote talk on the challenges and benefits of establishing a vibrant interdisciplinary research program on Friday, May 12, at the International Symposium for Biologically-inspired Design and Engineering at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Clark, senior associate dean at the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke, is the director of Duke's Center for Biologically Inspired Materials and Material Systems (CBIMMS) (http://cbimms.duke.edu). CBIMMS, established in 2001, encompasses a ...
  •  
  • May 8, 2006

    New 'Metal Sandwich' May Break Superconductor Record, Theory Suggests

    DURHAM, N.C. -- After an exhaustive data search for new compounds, researchers at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering have discovered a theoretical "metal sandwich" that is expected to be a good superconductor. Superconductive materials have no resistance to the flow of electric current. The new lithium monoboride (LiB) compound is a "binary alloy" consisting of two layers of boron -- the "bread" of the atomic sandwich -- with lithium metal "filling" in between, the researchers ...
  •  
  • May 1, 2006

    Strong Showing for Pratt at American Chemical Society Meeting

    Stefan Zauscher Representatives of the Pratt School of Engineering made an impressive showing at the 2006 American Chemical Society (ACS) meetings held in Atlanta from March 26-30. Topics presented by the Pratt group ranged from plasmonic nanoparticles to the effect of glycoproteins on joint friction. The majority of those in attendance from the Pratt School participated in a symposium centered on the emerging and interdisciplinary field of "bionanostructures and interfaces," organized by Pratt professor Stefan Zauscher and ...
  •  
  • May 1, 2006

    Strong Showing for Pratt at American Chemical Society Meeting

    Stefan Zauscher Representatives of the Pratt School of Engineering made an impressive showing at the 2006 American Chemical Society (ACS) meetings held in Atlanta from March 26-30. Topics presented by the Pratt group ranged from plasmonic nanoparticles to the effect of glycoproteins on joint friction. The majority of those in attendance from the Pratt School participated in a symposium centered on the emerging and interdisciplinary field of "bionanostructures and interfaces," organized by Pratt professor Stefan Zauscher and ...
  •  
  • March 30, 2006

    Magnetism Shepherds Microlenses to Excavate 'Nanocavities'

    ATLANTA -- A Duke University engineer is "herding" tiny lenses with magnetic ferrofluids, precisely aligning them so that they focus bursts of light to excavate patterns of cavities on surfaces. Such photolithographically produced "nanocavities" - each only billionths of a meter across might serve as repositories for molecules engineered as chemical detectors, said Benjamin Yellen, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering. Alternatively, he said, ...
  •  
  • March 29, 2006

    New Insight into Joint Lubrication that Keeps Osteoarthritis at Bay

    ATLANTA -- New evidence to explain how the body's natural joint lubricant prevents the wear and tear that can lead to osteoarthritis has been uncovered by researchers at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering The findings may lead to new methods for treating arthritis, the researchers said. The team found in realistic models of joints that, rather than simply reducing friction, a component of joint fluid called lubricin forms a very thin barrier that repels joint ...
  •  
  • March 29, 2006

    Duke Engineers Building 'Erasible' Detectors, 'Nanobrushes' and DNA 'Highrises'

    ATLANTA -- A Duke University engineering group is doing pioneering work at very diminutive dimensions. Their basic studies could lead to genetically engineered proteins that can form erasable chemical detectors; self-grown forests of molecular "bottlebrushes" that keep themselves contamination-free; and auto-assembled DNA "towers" that could become anchors for the tiniest of devices. Professor of biomedical engineering Ashutosh Chilkoti of Duke's Pratt School of Engineering will describe such advances in designing bio-detectors and structures scaled in the ...
  •  
  • January 16, 2006

    Protein "Nanosprings" Most Resilient in Nature

    A component of many proteins has been found to constitute one of the most powerful and resilient molecular "springs" in nature, researchers have discovered. The engineers and biologists from Duke University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute say their discovery could lead to a new understanding of mechanical processes within the living cell. The discovery also could provide potent nanoscale "shock absorbers" or "gate-opening springs" in tiny nanomachines. The team's findings were published in an advanced ...
  •  
  • January 1, 2006

    Class Teaches the Engineering of Biology and Different Way to Learn

    Professor David Needham The students in the Pratt School of Engineering course, "Introduction to Biologically Inspired Materials and Materials Systems," seemed more like seasoned professionals than the undergraduates most of them were as they presented the results of their semester's exposure to the engineering of biology. Theirs was a sophisticated show-and-tell, spoken without the aid of notes, on topics as diverse as how the mineralization process creates bones but can also clog arteries, why DNA's structure gives ...
  •  
  • January 1, 2006

    Class Teaches the Engineering of Biology and Different Way to Learn

    Professor David Needham The students in the Pratt School of Engineering course, "Introduction to Biologically Inspired Materials and Materials Systems," seemed more like seasoned professionals than the undergraduates most of them were as they presented the results of their semester's exposure to the engineering of biology. Theirs was a sophisticated show-and-tell, spoken without the aid of notes, on topics as diverse as how the mineralization process creates bones but can also clog arteries, why DNA's structure gives ...
  •  
  • October 13, 2005

    Engineers Build DNA "Nanotowers" with Enzyme Tools

    DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke engineers have added a new construction tool to their bio-nanofabrication toolbox. Using an enzyme called TdTase, engineers can vertically extend short DNA chains attached to nanometer-sized gold plates. This advance adds new capability to the field of bio-nanomanufacturing. "The process works like stacking Legos to make a tower and is an important step toward creating functional nanostructures out of biological materials," said Ashutosh Chilkoti, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Duke's Pratt ...
  •  
  • June 1, 2005

    Pratt Hosts International Symposium on Biointerface Science

    Duke's Pratt School of Engineering hosted the first International Symposium on Biointerface Science in New Bern on May 12-14. The conference focused on the challenges that researchers face in the silicon electronics industry when pairing soft, wet biological substances with hard, dry materials to create nanoscale "biohybrids." Biointerface science explores the interaction between biological and artificial materials at a molecular level. Such research crosses the traditional boundaries of materials and surface science, molecular and cell biology, engineering ...
  •  
  • June 1, 2005

    Pratt Hosts International Symposium on Biointerface Science

    Duke's Pratt School of Engineering hosted the first International Symposium on Biointerface Science in New Bern on May 12-14. The conference focused on the challenges that researchers face in the silicon electronics industry when pairing soft, wet biological substances with hard, dry materials to create nanoscale "biohybrids." Biointerface science explores the interaction between biological and artificial materials at a molecular level. Such research crosses the traditional boundaries of materials and surface science, molecular and cell biology, engineering ...
  •  
  • May 10, 2005

    Duke Hosts Biointerface Science Conference in New Bern

    DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering is hosting the first International Symposium on Biointerface Science in New Bern May 12-14. The conference, which is open to the public, will focus on the challenges that researchers face in the silicon electronics industry when pairing soft, wet biological substances with hard, dry materials to create nanoscale "biohybrids." Biointerface science explores the interaction between biological and artificial materials at a molecular level. Such research crosses the traditional ...
  •  
  • January 1, 2005

    New Tool for Bio-Nanofabrication

    Duke engineers have added a new construction tool to their bio-nanofabrication toolbox. Using an enzyme called TdTase, engineers can vertically extend short DNA chains attached to nanometer-sized gold plates. This advance adds new capability to the field of bio-nanomanufacturing. "The process works like stacking Legos to make a tower and is an important step toward creating functional nanostructures out of biological materials," said Ashutosh Chilkoti, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering. The ...
  •  
  • January 1, 2005

    New Tool for Bio-Nanofabrication

    Duke engineers have added a new construction tool to their bio-nanofabrication toolbox. Using an enzyme called TdTase, engineers can vertically extend short DNA chains attached to nanometer-sized gold plates. This advance adds new capability to the field of bio-nanomanufacturing. "The process works like stacking Legos to make a tower and is an important step toward creating functional nanostructures out of biological materials," said Ashutosh Chilkoti, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering. The ...
  •  
  • November 15, 2004

    Switch in Research Focus Inspires Mechanical Engineer Kurt Wulff

    By Claire Cusick You might think that graduate school is all about specialization continually narrowing your field to study a smaller subject in greater depth. Not so in engineering. Or, at least, not in the case of Kurt Wulff. Wulff, who earned a B.S. in electromechanical engineering from Loras College in Iowa, came to Duke interested in studying more about controls. Controls can be devices, design tweaks or programming that regulate activities keeping everything in balance ...
  •  
  • October 15, 2004

    Nanolithography Drives Johannes Towards Research Career

    By Claire Cusick When deciding where to go to undergrad, Matt Johannes chose Duke even though it was across the country from his home in Puyallup, Washington. He liked the atmosphere, and saw it as an opportunity to experience life on the east coast. He entered Duke as an undergraduate biomedical engineering major, because he had considered becoming a doctor. But he also thought he might want to design prosthetics, so he thought BME was ...
  •  
  • May 1, 2004

    Enzyme 'Ink' Shows Potential for Nanomanufacturing

    Duke University engineers have demonstrated that enzymes can be used to create nanoscale patterns on gold. Since many enzymes are already commercially available and well characterized, the potential for writing with enzyme 'ink' represents an important advance in nanomanufacturing. This research was funded by the National Science Foundation through a Nanotechnology Interdisciplinary Research Initiative (NIRT) grant. Enzymes are nature's catalysts -- proteins that stimulate chemical reactions in the body and are used in a wide range of ...
  •  
  • May 1, 2004

    Enzyme 'Ink' Shows Potential for Nanomanufacturing

    Duke University engineers have demonstrated that enzymes can be used to create nanoscale patterns on gold. Since many enzymes are already commercially available and well characterized, the potential for writing with enzyme 'ink' represents an important advance in nanomanufacturing. This research was funded by the National Science Foundation through a Nanotechnology Interdisciplinary Research Initiative (NIRT) grant. Enzymes are nature's catalysts -- proteins that stimulate chemical reactions in the body and are used in a wide range of ...
  •  
  • April 21, 2004

    Enzyme 'Ink' Shows Potential for Nanomanufacturing

    DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University engineers have demonstrated that enzymes can be used to create nanoscale patterns on gold. Since many enzymes are already commercially available and well characterized, the potential for writing with enzyme 'ink' represents an important advance in nanomanufacturing. This research was funded by the National Science Foundation through a Nanotechnology Interdisciplinary Research Initiative (NIRT) grant. Enzymes are nature's catalysts -- proteins that stimulate chemical reactions in the body and are used in a ...
  •  
  • April 1, 2004

    Pratt Engineers Fabricate 'Smart Nanostructures'

    ANAHEIM, CALIF. - Engineers from Duke's Pratt School of Engineering have described progress building so-called "smart nanostructures," including billionths-of-a-meter-scale "nanobrushes" that can selectively and reversibly sprout from surfaces in response to changes in temperature or solvent chemistry. In talks delivered during the March 28-April 1 American Chemical Society annual meeting in Anaheim, researchers also told how they are using an atomic force microscope to create reprogrammable "nanopatterns" of large biologically-based molecules that could potentially serve ...
  •  
  • April 1, 2004

    Pratt Engineers Fabricate 'Smart Nanostructures'

    ANAHEIM, CALIF. - Engineers from Duke's Pratt School of Engineering have described progress building so-called "smart nanostructures," including billionths-of-a-meter-scale "nanobrushes" that can selectively and reversibly sprout from surfaces in response to changes in temperature or solvent chemistry. In talks delivered during the March 28-April 1 American Chemical Society annual meeting in Anaheim, researchers also told how they are using an atomic force microscope to create reprogrammable "nanopatterns" of large biologically-based molecules that could potentially serve ...
  •  
  • March 31, 2004

    Duke Engineers Fabricating Polymer 'Nanobrushes' and Other 'Smart' Molecule-Sized Structures

    ANAHEIM, CALIF. -- Engineers from Duke University have described progress building so-called "smart nanostructures," including billionths-of-a-meter-scale "nanobrushes" that can selectively and reversibly sprout from surfaces in response to changes in temperature or solvent chemistry. In talks delivered during the March 28-April 1 at the American Chemical Society annual meeting in Anaheim, researchers from Duke's Pratt School of Engineering also told how they are using an atomic force microscope to create reprogrammable "nanopatterns" of large biologically-based molecules ...
  •  
  • September 1, 2003

    Special Drug Delivery

    By Dennis Meredith, for DukeMed Magazine A cloud of gelatinous capsules swirls into the bloodstream from the tip of a comparatively colossal hypodermic needle. At a thousandth of the diameter of a human hair, the capsules spreading through the circulation are nearly a hundred times smaller than the blood cells that stream alongside them. Yet tiny as they are, these submicroscopic capsules bear the stamp of human design their surfaces are a waxy patchwork not found ...
  •  
  • September 1, 2003

    Special Drug Delivery

    By Dennis Meredith, for DukeMed Magazine A cloud of gelatinous capsules swirls into the bloodstream from the tip of a comparatively colossal hypodermic needle. At a thousandth of the diameter of a human hair, the capsules spreading through the circulation are nearly a hundred times smaller than the blood cells that stream alongside them. Yet tiny as they are, these submicroscopic capsules bear the stamp of human design their surfaces are a waxy patchwork not found ...
  •  
  • June 16, 2003

    Special Delivery

    (From DukeMed Magazine) By Dennis Meredith A cloud of gelatinous capsules swirls into the bloodstream from the tip of a comparatively colossal hypodermic needle. At a thousandth of the diameter of a human hair, the capsules spreading through the circulation are nearly a hundred times smaller than the blood cells that stream alongside them. Yet tiny as they are, these submicroscopic capsules bear the stamp of human design their surfaces are a waxy patchwork not found in ...
  •  
  • June 1, 2003

    Engineers Converting Atomic Force Microscopes into Molecular 'Milling Machines'

    Pratt School of Engineering researchers are at the vanguard of efforts to remake the "atomic force microscope" (AFM), an instrument typically used to obtain molecular scale images, into a tool to build precisely aligned structures at those tiny dimensions. "I think this will be a very good tool for research in the laboratory because we should have very good control and get results relatively easily," said Stefan Zauscher, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and materials science who brought his expertise in ...
  •  
  • June 1, 2003

    Engineers Converting Atomic Force Microscopes into Molecular 'Milling Machines'

    Pratt School of Engineering researchers are at the vanguard of efforts to remake the "atomic force microscope" (AFM), an instrument typically used to obtain molecular scale images, into a tool to build precisely aligned structures at those tiny dimensions. "I think this will be a very good tool for research in the laboratory because we should have very good control and get results relatively easily," said Stefan Zauscher, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and materials science who brought his expertise in ...
  •  
  • May 19, 2003

    Duke Engineers Converting Atomic Force Microscopes into Molecular 'Milling Machines'

    DURHAM, N.C. -- Pratt School of Engineering researchers are at the vanguard of efforts to remake the "atomic force microscope" (AFM), an instrument typically used to obtain molecular scale images, into a tool to build precisely aligned structures at those tiny dimensions. "I think this will be a very good tool for research in the laboratory because we should have very good control and get results relatively easily," said Stefan Zauscher, an assistant professor of mechanical ...
  •  
  • April 1, 2003

    Human Testing Starts of Engineered Anti-Cancer Drug Carrier

    The first phase of clinical testing has begun of a heat-triggered, sub-microscopic drug carrier invented by Professor David Needham of the Pratt Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and developed in collaboration with Dr. Mark Dewhirst in the Department of Radiation Oncology. The drug carriers are liposomes that are engineered to release the agents they carry at the cancer site when tumor temperatures are raised to 41 degrees Celsius. The clinical trial just getting underway is using the special liposomes to carry ...
  •  
  • April 1, 2003

    Human Testing Starts of Engineered Anti-Cancer Drug Carrier

    The first phase of clinical testing has begun of a heat-triggered, sub-microscopic drug carrier invented by Professor David Needham of the Pratt Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and developed in collaboration with Dr. Mark Dewhirst in the Department of Radiation Oncology. The drug carriers are liposomes that are engineered to release the agents they carry at the cancer site when tumor temperatures are raised to 41 degrees Celsius. The clinical trial just getting underway is using the special liposomes to carry ...
  •  
  • February 1, 2003

    MIT and Duke Team Mines for New Materials With a Computer

    A computational technique used to predict everything from books that a given customer might like to the function of an unknown protein is now being applied by MIT engineers and a colleague at Duke University to the search for new materials. The team's ultimate goal: a public online database that could aid the design of materials for almost any application, from nanostructure computer components to ultralight, high-strength alloys for airplanes. The technique, known as data mining, uses ...
  •  
  • February 1, 2003

    MIT and Duke Team Mines for New Materials With a Computer

    A computational technique used to predict everything from books that a given customer might like to the function of an unknown protein is now being applied by MIT engineers and a colleague at Duke University to the search for new materials. The team's ultimate goal: a public online database that could aid the design of materials for almost any application, from nanostructure computer components to ultralight, high-strength alloys for airplanes. The technique, known as data mining, uses ...
  •  
  • February 1, 2003

    Pratt Center Receives $2.9 Million NSF Grant

    A center at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering has received a $2.9 million National Science Foundation grant to start a two-year graduate research education curriculum that will teach students how to use engineering principles to explore natural materials and processes. Such research could lead to biologically-based products of societal benefit or to basic laboratory discoveries about living structures and systems. The interdisciplinary Center for Biologically Inspired Materials and Material Systems (CBIMMS) will develop the Graduate Training in ...
  •  
  • February 1, 2003

    Pratt Center Receives $2.9 Million NSF Grant

    A center at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering has received a $2.9 million National Science Foundation grant to start a two-year graduate research education curriculum that will teach students how to use engineering principles to explore natural materials and processes. Such research could lead to biologically-based products of societal benefit or to basic laboratory discoveries about living structures and systems. The interdisciplinary Center for Biologically Inspired Materials and Material Systems (CBIMMS) will develop the Graduate Training in ...
  •  
  • January 16, 2003

    Grant to Pratt to Support New Approach to Understanding Biology Through Engineering

    DURHAM, N.C. -- A center at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering has received a $2.9 million National Science Foundation grant to start a two-year graduate research education curriculum that will teach students how to use engineering principles to explore natural materials and processes. Such research could lead to biologically-based products of societal benefit or to basic laboratory discoveries about living structures and systems. The interdisciplinary Center for Biologically Inspired Materials and Material Systems (CBIMMS) will develop the ...
  •  
  • September 16, 2002

    One-Upping Nature in a Quest for New Materials

    By Monte Basgall, Office of News and Communications Taking their inspiration from the "soft and wet" natural world, engineers and scientists are designing new tools and devices that aim at practical applications. The goal is to "reverse engineer" scores of millions of years of natural evolution. Over this span, molecules have assembled themselves into cells and cells have organized into plants, animals and the complex biomechanisms necessary to support life. Now, in a promising new initiative, interdisciplinary ...
  •  
  • March 1, 2000

    Heat-Triggered Liposomes Carry Drugs to Eradicate Tumors in Mice

    DURHAM, N.C. - Human tumors implanted into mice regressed completely within about 12 days when treated with heat-triggered, sub-microscopic drug carriers called "liposomes," and most of those tumors didn't regrow during 60-day trials at Duke University and Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center, researchers reported Tuesday. The finding raises the possibility of treating cancers by injecting such liposomes into cancer patients and applying heat only at the region of a tumor to selectively release cancer-killing drugs. The studies, published ...
  •  

    Questions about this page? Contact:

    Deborah Hill, Director of Communications, 415 Teer Engineering Building, 919-660-8403, dahill@duke.edu