14 DAY TRIAL // A new method that replaces nearly all of the toxic chemicals necessary to make gold nanoparticles has been discovered, thanks to a new study carried out by a University of Missouri research team, led by MU scientist Kattesh Katti, curators' professor of radiology and physics in the School of Medicine and the College of Arts and Science, senior research scientist at the University of Missouri Research Reactor and director of the Cancer Nanotechnology Platform.
All it takes is some cinnamon!
Gold nanoparticles are minute pieces of gold, unseen by the naked eye, that are used in electronics, health care products and as drugs against cancer.
But even if gold nanoparticles are very useful, their making process involves very dangerous and toxic chemicals and acids, that are not environmentally safe.
So, out of concern for the environmental impact of the future global nanotechnological revolution, the team of MU researchers mixed gold salts with cinnamon and stirred the mixture in water to synthesize gold particles.
Katti and researchers Raghuraman Kannan – the Michael J and Sharon R. Bukstein Distinguished Faculty Scholar in Cancer Research, assistant professor of radiology and director of the Nanoparticle Production Core Facility, along with Nripen Chanda, a research associate scientist, said that this new process doesn’t involve electricity nor toxic agents.
During the experiment, the team found that when nanoparticles are created, the cinnamon releases active chemicals.
These chemicals are called phytochemicals, and when they are mixed with the gold nanoparticles, they can be used in the treatment for cancer, because they get into cancer cells and help the destruction or imaging of cancer cells.
Kannan explained that “the procedure … is non-toxic.
“No chemicals are used in the generation of gold nanoparticles, except gold salts; it is a true 'green' process.”
“From our work in green nanotechnology, it is clear that cinnamon — and other species such as herbs, leaves and seeds — will serve as a reservoir of phytochemicals and has the capability to convert metals into nanoparticles,” Katti added.
“Therefore, our approach to 'green' nanotechnology creates a renaissance symbolizing the indispensable role of Mother Nature in all future nanotechnological developments.”
These new “gold nanoparticles are not only ecologically and biologically benign, they also are biologically active against cancer cells,” insisted Katti.
In electronics, healthcare products and pharmaceuticals, there is a growing list of applications for nanotechnology, and this triggers an ecological concern about their implications, because the entire process can seriously damage the environment.
Kannan said that “on one hand, you are trying to create a new, useful technology.
“However, continuing to ignore the environmental effects is detrimental to the progress.”
Kattesh Katti is one of the founders of green nanotechnology, and along with Nobel prize winner Norman Borlaug, they have big hopes regarding the potential of green nanotechnology in agriculture, medicine and life sciences, and Borlaug even predicted a relationship between medical and agricultural sciences.
This new study was published this in Pharmaceutical Research.