ANDRZEJ KRAUZEGood things come in small packages” is a well-worn saw, but rearrange it to say “small packages of good things are coming” and you’ve got an updated proverb that nicely encapsulates subjects covered in this issue of The Scientist.
There’s nothing small about the number of research articles reporting the potential medical benefits of nanoparticles. The last decade has seen a rash of new journals launched solely to publish studies on the topic, and every week press releases touting novel research in this field are delivered to our inboxes. A number of these discoveries are already well on their way to the clinic. In “Nanomedicine,” we learn that “nearly 50 biomedical products incorporating nanoparticles are already on the market, and many more are moving through the pipeline, with dozens in Phase 2 or Phase 3 clinical trials.” Authors Guizhi Zhu, Lei Mei, and Weihong Tan survey a wide range of nanoparticles—from liposomes loaded with double-whammy drugs to DNA nanotrains and origami cages—designed to serve ...
