While this will be considered as an impressive feat, what is even more impressive is that the treatment will not leave the individual harmed in any manner whatsoever. Currently, and process of developing medicine that only attacks tumor cells and leaves the rest of the body apart has been considered as an uphill battle in cancer drug therapy. While targeted chemotherapy does aid in destroying a large percentage of cancer cells, the obvious side-effects are that it also targets fast-dividing cells such as hair follicles, nails, and bone marrow with toxic drugs. This is the reason why researchers have been working on nanoparticle-based cancer drug delivery. This involves the delivery of drug-loaded, porous silica particles into the body in order to target tumor cells. However, while this alternate method is quite effective, it is also quite expensive and requires industrial chemicals, such as hydrofluoric acid. Now, a team of scientists from Australia and Germany have genetically engineered an algae that can get this job done effectively and without looking at the costs and harmful variables. In case you did not know, diatoms are a large group of microscopic one-cell organisms. They measure at just four to six micrometres in diameter, making them much smaller than the width of a human hair. Lead author and nanomedicine expert Nico Voelcker has stated the following: “By genetically engineering diatom algae – tiny, unicellular, photosynthesizing algae with a skeleton made of nanoporous silica, we are able to produce an antibody-binding protein on the surface of their shells.” After stuffing the algae full of chemo drugs they then tested the nanoparticles on cancer cells on test subjects that comprised up of mice. They were successfully able to kill about 90 percent of cancer cells while sparing healthy human cells, which only means that it is only a matter of time before a new suitable alternative has been released that is much more favorable compared to chemotherapy.
