How Nanopackaging And Nanovalves For Medicines Should Be Like Skewered Pumpkins, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Study

ScienceDaily (Mar. 13, 2008) — We encounter valves every day, whether in the water faucet, the carburetor in our car, or our bicycle tire tube. Valves are also present in the world of nanotechnology. A team of researchers headed by J. Fraser Stoddart and Jeffrey I. Zink at the University of California, Los Angeles, has now developed a new nanovalve. The scientists have now revealed what is special about it: In contrast to prior versions, which only function in organic solvents, this valve operates in an aqueous environment and under physiological conditions—prerequisites for any application as a gate for nanoscopic drug-transport agents, which need to set their cargo free at the right place and time.

Back to news