Gold As Medicine

Exotic right now, this use may not be if the technique passes muster. According to PhysOrg.com, self-assembling gold particles have real potential to zap tumors with the aid of light.

A variety of studies by numerous investigators are demonstrating that gold nanoparticles have real promise as anticancer agents. When irradiated with light, gold nanoparticles become hot quickly, hot enough to generate explosive microbubbles that will kill nearby cancer cells, a physical process known as the photothermal effect.

A paper has shown that an artificially created gold nanoparticle compex, if attached to a molecule that seeks out tumour cells, can zap them without zapping cells that lack the target marker.


All I can say is, "wow."