specialized nanoparticle filled with an RNA-based cancer therapy can successfully target human cancer cells and silence the target gene, according to results from an early clinical trial. The research, published today in the journal Nature, is the first to demonstrate this type of tissue targeting and gene-silencing in humans. Researchers haven’t yet revealed the clinical effects of the treatment.

Getting inside: Nanoparticles (black spheres) carry a molecular marker on their surface that engages receptors on a cancer cell’s surface, allowing the nanoparticles to be taken into the cell. Here, the nanoparticles can be seen both entering and inside the cell.
Credit: Swaroop Mishra

via Technology Review: RNA-Loaded Nanoparticles Fight Cancer.