Physicists have devised a way to use diamonds to identify cancerous tumors before they become life threatening. Their findings reveal how a nanoscale, synthetic version of the precious gem can light up early-stage cancers in non-toxic, non-invasive Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans.

An international team of researchers has developed a method for fabricating nano-scale electronic scaffolds that can be injected via syringe. Once connected to electronic devices, the scaffolds can be used to monitor neural activity, stimulate tissues and even promote regenerations of neurons.

Many cancer patients survive treatment only to have a recurrence within a few years. Recurrences and tumor spreading are likely due to cancer stem cells that can be tough to kill with conventional cancer drugs. But now researchers have designed nanoparticles that specifically target these hardy cells to deliver a drug. The nanoparticle treatment worked far better than the drug alone in mice.

Someday, treating patients with nanorobots could become standard practice to deliver medicine specifically to parts of the body affected by disease. But merely injecting drug-loaded nanoparticles might not always be enough to get them where they need to go. Now scientists are reporting the development of new nanoswimmers that can move easily through body fluids to their targets.

Researchers have found an easy way to produce carbon nanoparticles that are small enough to evade the body’s immune system, reflect light in the near-infrared range for easy detection, and carry payloads of pharmaceutical drugs to targeted tissues. The new approach generates the particles in a few hours and uses only a handful of ingredients, including store-bought molasses.

Medical science is placing high hopes on nanoparticles that could be used as a vehicle for targeted drug delivery. Scientists have for the first time succeeded in assaying the stability of these particles and their distribution within the body. Their results show that a lot of research is still needed in this field.

In what may be a major leap forward in the quest for new treatments of the most common form of cardiovascular disease, scientists report they have found a way to halt and reverse the progression of atherosclerosis in rodents by loading microscopic nanoparticles with a chemical that restores the animals’ ability to properly handle cholesterol.

Before Ibuprofen can relieve your headache, it has to dissolve in your bloodstream. The problem is Ibuprofen, in its native form, isn’t particularly soluble. Its rigid, crystalline structures — the molecules are lined up like soldiers at roll call — make it hard to dissolve in the bloodstream. To overcome this, manufacturers use chemical additives to increase the solubility of Ibuprofen and many other drugs, but those additives also increase cost and complexity.

Researchers have developed tiny nanocrystals that could be used in the next generation of medical imaging technologies to light up cancer cells.

Human consumption of bacterially contaminated water causes millions of deaths each year throughout the world — primarily among children. An inexpensive, simple and easily transportable nanotechnology-based method to purify drinking water has just been developed. Researchers call it The Drinkable Book, and each page is impregnated with bacteria-killing metal nanoparticles.