The value of nanoengineering in medicine is also further revealed in the form
of a prototype handheld haemodialysis
device, successfully tested on rats, that uses nano-engineered magnetized
particles to clean the blood of pathogens. It is several years from human use,
but has astonishing potential. Orthopedic and neural implants have also been
found to benefit from the use of nanomaterials in their construction.

The potential of myeloma drug Velcade was being realized so
well in trials that ethics demanded the trial end and the drug be administered
to control-group patients as well.

Finally, on the darker or lighter side, depending on how you look at it: An
implanted drug is claimed to provide a three-month suntan without the sun, while an
implanted “orgasmatron” is
claimed to overcome female sexual dysfunction.

Wendy Goldman Rohm has written a good primer and history of cloning in
Wired. She also reports a significant advance in the technology achieved
by Advanced Cell Technology (ACT), the US company led by the controversial
Michael West.

The company allowed Rohm to observe ACT scientists as they attempted to clone
18 freshly harvested human eggs using two different processes: the conventional
enucleation process of nuclear transfer of donor DNA followed by chemical
stimulation of cell division, and parthenogenesis, in which a chemical reagent
tricks the embryos into dividing as if they had been fertilized. The first
approach produces (theoretically) embryos that could become human beings; the
second produces parthenotes — embryo-like balls of cells that may also yield
stem cells but, since they lack the necessary male chromosomes to form a
placenta, probably could never become a human and thus avoid the ethical issues
surrounding therapeutic cloning. “ACT,” says Rohm, “hopes to use parthenogenesis
to derive hundreds of broadly transplantable stem cell lines, enough to match
the tissue types of nearly everyone in, say, the US.”

The conventional experiment was a success, producing five blastocysts from
eight eggs and thus tending to refute a claim that human cloning would be almost
impossible due to errors in early cell division caused by the enucleation
process. The implication is that ACT has demonstrated a “significant if
unintended” step toward human reproductive cloning. ACT insists it is not going
there, though “others surely will,” thinks Rohm. The parthenote approach did
even better, producing two blastocysts yielding stem cells — which is the
company’s chief goal.

ACT says there are many steps and years of research ahead, including
developing the cells into viable therapies. The company has already cured spinal
injuries in sheep and successfully cloned kidney cells that were a genetic match
to their DNA donor, a cow. They even rejuvenated the immune system of a cow with
a teaspoon of stem cells.

Reference: Rohm, Wendy Goldman (2004). “Seven Days of
Creation: The inside story of a human cloning experiment.” Wired, Issue
12.01, January.

Stem Cells to Sperm Cells

Researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston have succeeded in fertilizing mouse
eggs with sperm engineered from stem cells, an achievement that could lead to
male fertility treatments and a greater understanding of the underlying process
of therapeutic cloning and stem cell development.

The proof of the pudding will be if the embryos develop into healthy mouse
pups, and the researchers warn against premature extrapolations to humans.

Reference: Philipkoski, Kristen (2003). “Shipshape, From
Stem to Sperm.” Wired News, December 10.

Toward Handheld Dialysis

Injectable magnetized nanoparticles fitted with receptors designed to
identify and capture target molecules could remove pathogens, whether an anthrax
virus or a drug overdose, from the bloodstream. After they have circulated
throughout the body, cleaning up as they go, the nanoparticles are removed by a
magnet housed in a handheld unit and a small, dual-channel shunt inserted into
an arm or leg artery. Blood flows into an inner diameter tube, passes through
the handheld unit, and then flows back into the artery through an outer tube.
The magnetic field in the unit pulls the particles out of the blood and deposits
them into a detachable chamber. The treatment takes about 40 minutes.

The device’s size, portability, simplicity, and speed make it a quantum
advance on hemodialysis, which takes up to seven hours, is very complex,
requires a huge machine, and can filter out only certain kinds of toxins.

The nanoparticles, made of biodegradable polylactic acid and magnetite, are
small enough to pass through blood vessels but too big to be filtered from the
bloodstream by the kidneys. Each particle has thousands of receptor antibodies
attached to it — enough to “remove or account for more than 10 times the lethal
dose of [target] toxin in the body.” The whole particle is coated with
polyethylene glycol, which prevents an immune response for up to five hours in
lab rats.

Making them is about as easy as “making Italian dressing,” their inventor
told Wired‘s Louise Knapp. They can be made in 24 hours in stainless
steel vessels, in any desired quantity. They can be freeze-dried and stored for
up to a year. The research is being conducted at the Argonne National
Laboratories and is sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
and the US Department of Energy.

Tests on rats have been “very successful,” according to the lead researcher,
who expects human clinical trials to begin in five years. Other researchers are
intrigued but not yet convinced. One thought it might work for removing TNF
(tumor necrosis factor), the molecule responsible for inflammation in arthritic
joints. Another thought it would not work with chemotherapy.

If the promise pans out, this is another breathtaking technology with the
potential to radically reshape healthcare and the practice of medicine.

Reference: Knapp, Louise (2003). “Ironing Out Blood
Impurities.” Wired News, December 8.

Carbon Nanotubes Build Better Prosthetics

Adding carbon nanofibers to the polycarbonate urethane composite material
used in the manufacture of orthopedic and neural implants has been found to
increase the formation of nerve and bone cells and decrease the formation of
scar tissue. The researchers have also shown that other materials that contain
surfaces with nano-size features are also more compatible with the human body.

Reference: Unknown (2003). “Body Handles
Nanofiber Better.” Technology Research News, December 15.

Velcade Succeeding

So many patients responded favorably in a clinical trial of Velcade
for multiple myeloma that its maker, Millennium, decided it would be unethical
to deny the treatment to the study’s control group, thus ending the trial. In
the earlier phase 2 study, the cancer disappeared completely or partially in 35
percent of patients, but Millennium would not disclose the success rates in the
discontinued phase 3 trial. One researcher would only comment that
Velcade helped delay the progression of the disease by months, and seemed
to improve survival rates.

Velcade is the first proteasome inhibitor — a drug that disrupts
biologic pathways, including those related to the growth and survival of cancer
cells — to reach the market. Other studies are underway to determine if
Velcade might be used to treat other cancers.

Reference: Kerber, Ross (2003). “Good
news halts trial of drug for cancer: Millennium reports promising results.”
Boston Globe, December 16.

Superhealth 1: Suntan Implant

An implanted drug called Melanotan is claimed to increase the amount of
melanin in the skin and create a tan that lasts for three months. It is also
claimed to protect fair-skinned people against sunburn, a claim which may give
people a false sense of security.

Reference: Unknown (2003). “Suntan could come
‘in an implant.’” BBC News, December 3.

Superhealth 2: Orgasmatron

An American surgeon is having difficulty recruiting women for a FDA-approved
test of his implanted orgasm machine. The lone test subject to date had not had
an orgasm for four years but claimed she reached orgasm every time on seven
occasions over nine days of testing. While intended to serve a serious clinical
purpose in overcoming sexual dysfunction (hence the FDA trials) the
“orgasmatron” is already available for “off-label use” for US$4,000.

Reference: Agrell, Siri (2003). “Volunteers
sought for ‘orgasmatron’: One woman reported feeling ‘quite satisfied’.”
National Post, December 2.