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The precise delivery of drugs to diseased cells is one of the key functions of nanoparticles in the treatment of cancer and other diseases. Another role for nanoparticles in medical treatment is to provide early diagnosis of diseases like cancer through the detection of biomarkers that are linked to the disease.

The ability to combine both these therapeutic and diagnostic functions into one nanoparticle has developed into a field known as a “theranostics.”

Now a research team in Sweden, including Eva Malmström-Jonsson of the KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Andreas Nyström of the Karolinska Institute, has not only developed just such a theranostic nanoparticle, but also demonstrated that it is non-toxic and biodegradable. [Read More]