System For Predicting How Nanoparticles Affect the Human Body Could Save Us from Our Tech
Nanoscale Ferromagnetic Particles Nanoparticles possess lots of interesting properties that are only partially understood. That can be a problem when we introduce them to biological systems where they can do damage to essential tissues. Here ferromagnetic particles gather around a magnet placed beneath a piece of glass, forming structures we don't usually see at the macro scale. Gregory F. Maxwell via Wikimedia Almost exactly one year ago, two Chinese women earned the distinction of becoming the first humans to be killed by nanotechnology, after nanoparticles in a paint used in their poorly ventilated factory took residence in their lungs, causing respiratory failure. Now a team of researchers at North Carolina State have developed a method of modeling the way nanoparticles interact with biological systems, giving medical and nanotech researchers their first means to predict how a given particle will move through a human body. When nanoparticles enter the body,...