Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed modular nanoparticles that can be easily customized to target different biological entities such as tumors, viruses or toxins. The surface of the nanoparticles is engineered to host any biological molecules of choice, making it possible to tailor the nanoparticles for a wide array of applications, ranging from targeted drug delivery to neutralizing biological agents.
The beauty of this technology lies in its simplicity and efficiency. Instead of crafting entirely new nanoparticles for each specific application, researchers can now employ a modular nanoparticle base and conveniently attach proteins targeting a desired biological entity.
In the past, creating distinct nanoparticles for different biological targets required going through a different synthetic process from start to finish each time. But with this new technique, the same modular nanoparticle base can be easily modified to create a whole set of specialized nanoparticles.
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