IGERT: Building Leadership for the Nanotechnology Workforce of
Tomorrow (University of Washington) Combining nanoparticles with
a chlorotoxin from scorpion venom, scientists at the University
of Washington discovered a way to tag brain cancer cells and
disable the machinery on the cell's surface, denying the cancer
cells the ability to migrate through the brain. These findings
could lead to new conventional drug treatments and have the
potential to significantly impact the fight against cancer,
particularly aggressive and complicated brain cancers. The
American Cancer Society estimates that in 2011 alone, 22,340
people will be diagnosed with brain cancer and more than 13,000
will die of brain cancer or related problems. The ability to
non-surgically halt the growth of brain tumors will be a major
victory and will pave the way for treating other types of
cancers. The researchers use magnetic resonance and optical
imaging to identify cells that the chlorotoxin-decorated
nanoparticles tag as cancerous (see image