Photo: Facebook AC/DC Credit: George Rose for The Los Angeles Times.
This is maybe the most unexpectedly-awesome news I’ve read in a long time, and to be honest, I wasn’t even sure if it was true when I first read it. A study was released on April 1st, and I thought maybe there were chemists somewhere chuckling to themselves relishing in the best April Fool’s prank ever pulled. However, after digging deeper, I can only assume that this news is in fact real, and it is in fact really awesome.
Researchers from the University of South Australia are using AC/DC’s Thunderstruck to help make cancer drugs more effective. Researchers found that the strong vibrations from the rock music allowed them to suspend the drug’s micro particles in thin air. From there, the micro particles can be coated with a sturdy, Teflon-like coating. This coating helps make sure that the optimal amount of the drug is delivered to the cancer cells.
To go into a bit more detail, the micro particles are sponge-like entities used to transport the cancer drug: in the case of this study, a chemotherapy drug known as camptothecin. The micro particle is filled with the drug, but unfortunately, because the particle is porous, the drug can seep out before it reaches the cancer cells it is designed to attack.
Over time, the researchers realized that micro particles of the drug needed a complete coating for the drug to be effective. When using traditional techniques, they were only able to coat one side of these sponge-like particles. This left the other side vulnerable, and that makes it more likely that the intended dose of the drug will not reach the cancer cells.
However, thanks to the crazy vibrations of Thunderstruck, researchers were able to suspend the micro particles in thin air and coat them with a plasma polymer overlay. This complete coating ensures that drug inside the micro particles cannot prematurely escape. Researchers found that the chaotic frequencies worked especially well, and they helped the drug receive an even coating.
Although researchers in this study used the technique only for cancer drugs, the Senior Research author Professor Nico Voelcker has said that it might also be effective for other types of drugs. “We only tried this with a chemotherapy drug that we use for the treatment of cancer because you can visualise it so easily. We might end up using different types of drugs; we might use drugs that are anti-inflammatory or antibiotic. It was just one model application for us.”
The article was published in the American Chemistry Society and it is titled “Thunderstruck”: Plasma-Polymer-Coated Porous Silicon Microparticles As a Controlled Drug Delivery System.
AC/DC is helping treat cancer. We live in an awesome world.
