Carbon Nanotubes and Graphene - Research and Applications

In the first experiment of its kind, investigators at the Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence Focused on Therapy Response (CCNE-TR), based at Stanford University, have shown that single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) wrapped in poly(ethylene glycol), or PEG, can successfully target tumors in living animals. The results of this work, which was conducted by Hongjie Dai, Ph.D., and colleagues, appear in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

Carbon nanotubes have been used to smuggle HIV-blocking molecules into human cells. Although preliminary, the discovery could lead to new treatments for the deadly virus.

An aspect of RNA interference (RNAi), "small interfering" molecules (siRNA) have been suggested as a treatment for HIV in the past. Their ability to destroy messenger-RNA means they can be made to block the production of cell-surface receptor-proteins, which HIV relies on to invade immune cells known as T-cells.

The trouble is getting siRNA into the cells in the first place.

A material less sticky than Teflon has been created by covering a surface with a "forest" of carbon nanotubes. It could find use in the construction of microscopic machines and devices, which are prone to inter-molecular forces.