Attention, chocolate lovers: You may not be able to help yourselves. Swiss and British scientists have linked the widespread love of chocolate to a chemical "signature" that may be programmed into our metabolic systems.
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New medical imaging method proposed
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., Oct 25, 2005 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Purdue University scientists say they are developing a type of ultra-sensitive medical imaging using tiny gold nanorods placed in the bloodstream.
The technique involves shining a laser through the skin to detect the nanorods that yield images nearly 60 times brighter than conventional fluorescent dyes commonly used for a wide range of biological imaging to study the inner workings of cells and molecules.
The nanorods might be used to develop an advanced medical imaging tool for early detection of cancer, said Ji-Xin Cheng, an assistant professor of analytical and physical chemistry and lead author of the study.
The gold rods are about 20 nanometers wide and 60 nanometers long, or roughly 200 times smaller than a red blood cell.
The research was detailed online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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