A study by Cardiff University researchers published in Nature Nanotechnology has come up with a new way of viewing nanodiamonds inside living cells of humans. The new method could be used for biomedical research and cancer therapeutics, among others. Because of their low toxicity level and size, which is a thousand times smaller than human hair, nanodiamonds can be used for transporting drugs into cells and view processes inside tissues and cells.
Nanodiamonds prove to be useful to scientists because of their high compatibility with human cells and their chemical properties. Cardiff University’s Schools of Biosciences and Physics have optically viewed non-fluroescing nanodiamonds using the chemical bonds that vibrate inside the diamonds’ structure.
“This new imaging modality opens the exciting prospect of following complex cellular trafficking pathways quantitatively with important applications in drug delivery,” Professor Paola Borri from the School of Biosciences, who led the study, told Health Canal. “The next step for us will be to push the technique to detect nanodiamonds of even smaller sizes than what we have shown so far and to demonstrate a specific application in drug delivery.” CJ
