Light nanobudding

Technologies with the prefix nano are the medicine of the future

Sara Ibrahim, swissinfo: Die Nanotechnologie ist die Medizin der Zukunft

Translated from German and edited by Igor Petrov.

Nanotechnology will become the basis of the future so-called personalized medicine, which will help to defeat diseases such as cancer. But how far can this technology go and how real are the risks associated with it and described in science fiction works?

Some, hearing the prefix "nano", immediately recall science fiction films or novels, and some even come to mind some large state-owned enterprises. However, the so-called nanoscience deals only with technologies for manipulating technologies, particles, structures and other things at the nanometric, almost molecular, level. 

Cornelia Palivan, Professor of physical chemistry at the University of Basel and corresponding member of the Swiss Institute of Nanotechnology in Basel (Schweizerisches Instituts für Nanotechnologie), is confident that such technology should not frighten us, but, on the contrary, inspire hope.

SWI swissinfo.ch : Do you think the scenario that we "played" in the second episode of our sci-fi series is plausible? There we imagined how nanorobots introduced into the human body could deprive a person of free will and take him under control by manipulating his thoughts and actions? Something similar is also in the new film about J. Bond is present.

Cornelia Palivan: I would say that we are still very, very far from such scenarios. The so-called "nanobots" at the moment are pure science fiction, something very fascinating, but surreal. As a last resort, we could turn our attention to the danger posed by nanoparticles containing toxic compounds, or to the plans of governments of different countries to develop potentially absolutely deadly chemical or biological weapons. 

But then we would rather talk about poisons, and this topic has nothing to do with nanoparticles as such. The prefix "nano" in itself does not mean either good or malicious technology, it is just a way to solve technical problems at the molecular level, and such technologies can bring very great benefits, especially in medicine.

What does the concept of "developing nanotechnology" mean from your point of view?

My group of scientists and I are working on the practical implementation of nanotechnology in a variety of fields, ranging from medicine to ecology and food science. To do this, we are developing so—called "biohybrid nanostructured materials", which are obtained by combining biomolecules — such as proteins and enzymes - with synthetic materials present in very small quantities and volumes. We are talking about such very small capsules, the scale of which does not exceed the nano- or micro-range, that is, the radius of which does not exceed 100 nanometers. 

In them we encapsulate, that is, we enclose, for example, enzymes that begin to act immediately as soon as these capsules are absorbed by the body. One of the problems in modern medicine is that these very biomolecules contained in medicines quickly lose their effectiveness after assimilation by the body. With the help of bio-hybrid nanostructured materials, such as our nanocapsules, it is possible to preserve all the functionality of proteins and enzymes for a much longer period, because thanks to synthetic "nanocapsules" biomolecules receive protection and remain intact for a long time.

Are nanopreparations more effective than conventional medications?

Yes, but here we are faced not only with the issue of efficiency. In medicine today, the biggest problem is to make medicines as safe as possible by reducing side effects. Anyone and everyone today can go to the pharmacy and buy pills of different colors for the treatment of a variety of ailments and diseases. But the whole question is, what is in them, these pills? 

The idea is that the doctor of the future will not only prescribe medicines to people, but also make sure that they act in the right place in the right way and would not be toxic in those regions of the body in which we do not need all this. This is exactly what everyone expects when they go to the pharmacy, and from this point of view, nanotechnology can help us a lot, since they allow us to "manipulate" the carriers of the drug effect on a person.

Working with nanotechnology means a kind of attempt to copy nature in order to understand, for example, how a certain specific protein works in a cell, and, if necessary, replace it with an analog if the original is missing or has disappeared due to illness. In the classical format, medicinal molecules or drugs are injected into the body in the form of powder. But there is a risk that under certain certain conditions or situations, medicinal substances simply cannot get to "their" cells. This is because these molecules are too large to be absorbed and assimilated.

A well-known example now is ribonucleic acid-based RNA vaccines: after vaccination with such a vaccine, translation from the RNA matrix begins, a protein is formed in the cell, and so the body learns to see the virus and respond to it. Such ribonucleic acid or RNA is embedded in nanoparticles that act as carriers or "vectors". They protect the molecule and transport it to where it is needed, and since such nanoparticles are obtained chemically, they are much easier for cells to digest.

Nanotechnology is a relatively new type of technology. Are there any risks or adverse side effects in this context?

Of course they are. But it is still very difficult to say what they are, we will need many more years of trials and clinical texts before all these "side effects" can be fully evaluated. But the fact that people doubt and ask questions is completely normal. For example, we know for sure that Covid 19 vaccines work well. And we know what the short-term side effects may be, but we still don't know much about the long-term consequences, because no one has yet had enough time to study in depth the drugs that appeared on the market just a year and a half ago. 

Therefore, all these long-term risks must still be studied by science. At the same time, I would like to note a very important point: in order to get to the market, medicines and, of course, all their auxiliary substances-carriers (vectors), are very carefully studied, studied and tested for a number of years. This can be a very frustrating process because every time you fail at one of these stages, you have to start all over again.

However, this is unavoidable, since the human body is a very complex machine, and such tests are simply necessary to ensure its safety. The same applies to nanotechnology: no matter how promising the solutions being developed, if they do not stand up to the "lice" test and show negative results at some stage of the tests, they are simply abandoned.

In which areas can nanotechnology play a particularly prominent role in the future?

In medicine, primarily in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Nanoparticles are known as very high-quality contrast agents and they can be very useful for detecting tumors or for monitoring the direction of movement of tumor cells.

In addition, nanotechnology can give a powerful impetus to the development of personalized medicine, which again is crucial for the treatment of the same cancer. In terms of countering oncopathologies, such a path is the only possible way to develop therapy of the future, and in this sense, nanoscience is the only real solution. After all, it allows you to develop any kind of vectors at the molecular level and target them to specific specific antibodies. 

Therefore, we have the right to consider nanotechnology as a door to the "medicine" of the future. In other areas, nanoscience can help ecology by solving the problem of water purification, because it can also be purified with the help of nanoparticles containing special proteins. The same particles can be used in the food industry to control the quality of food.

And what is the price of the question? Who can afford all these "medicines of the future"?

The costs here are really high and, of course, so far everyone can't afford them and so far I don't see a solution to this problem. Companies developing such technologies are themselves interested in maintaining high prices and maintaining patent protection for them for as long as possible just for reasons of profit guarantees. 

Does this mean that in the future only the wealthiest people will be able to afford, for example, treatment of oncopathologies?

Unfortunately, yes, unless the cost of such therapy suddenly decreases for some reason. I would really like to be more optimistic, but I don't see any prospects here yet. What we can start with is the development of some kind of comprehensive political vision of the problem, which would include some measures at the international level. The initiatives of individual countries, such as Switzerland or France, are not enough here.

Can you imagine a future in which nanotechnology will be able to qualitatively prolong human life?

Some experiments in this direction are already being carried out, but so far all this is very difficult, because the human body is something amazing and incredibly complex. Moreover, there are actually two big problems here. It's one thing to prolong life, and another to improve its quality.

We have already noted that with an increase in the average life expectancy of people, the prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases is also increasing. From this point of view, it is much more important to stay healthy as long as possible than just to live longer. Now we are working, therefore, on the so-called "artificial organelles". Organelles — or organoids (from organ and others -Greek εἶδος — species) are permanent components of the cell, vital for its existence. 

These include, for example, mitochondria (a spherical or ellipsoid organelle with a diameter of usually about one micrometer, the energy station of the cell, its main function: the oxidation of organic compounds and the use of energy released during their decay to generate electrical potential and thermogenesis, — ed. rus.).

With our artificial organelles, we want to try to copy nature after all. To do this, we use synthetic materials. This technology can become very promising in the future to support the processes that underlie any protein life in general.

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