Anne Trafton

Articles from Anne

Triple-Threat Nanoparticles More Effective in Killing Ovarian Cancer Cells

Delivering chemotherapy drugs in nanoparticle form could help reduce side effects by targeting the drugs directly to the tumors. In recent years, scientists have developed nanoparticles that deliver one or two chemotherapy drugs, but it has been difficult to design particles that can carry any more than that in a precise ratio.

16 Apr 2014

MIT Chemical Engineers Design Nanoparticles Capable of Silencing Disease-Causing Genes

Inspired by tiny particles that carry cholesterol through the body, MIT chemical engineers have designed nanoparticles that can deliver snippets of genetic material that turn off disease-causing genes.

11 Feb 2014

MIT Chemical Engineers Create Synthetic Antibodies Using Carbon Nanotubes

MIT chemical engineers have developed a novel way to generate nanoparticles that can recognize specific molecules, opening up a new approach to building durable sensors for many different compounds, among other applications.

25 Nov 2013

Implantable Carbon Nanotube Sensors Detect Nitric Oxide

Nitric oxide (NO) is one of the most important signaling molecules in living cells, carrying messages within the brain and coordinating immune system functions. In many cancerous cells, levels are perturbed, but very little is known about how NO behaves in both healthy and cancerous cells.

4 Nov 2013

MIT Chemical Engineers Design Nanoparticles to Counter Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

An aggressive form of breast cancer known as “triple negative” is very difficult to treat: Chemotherapy can shrink such tumors for a while, but in many patients they grow back and gain resistance to the original drugs.

22 Oct 2013

Arrays of Nanoscale Sensors May Help Produce Drugs

MIT chemical engineers have discovered that arrays of billions of nanoscale sensors have unique properties that could help pharmaceutical companies produce drugs — especially those based on antibodies — more safely and efficiently.

17 Aug 2013

New Ways to Maximize Delivery of RNA Strands Carried by Nanoparticles

Nanoparticles that deliver short strands of RNA offer a way to treat cancer and other diseases by shutting off malfunctioning genes. Although this approach has shown some promise, scientists are still not sure exactly what happens to the nanoparticles once they get inside their target cells.

25 Jun 2013