In a recent study, more than 100,000 people die from negative reactions to medicines prescribed to them. With nanotechnology it is hoped that this figure will drop significantly. The product sold by Gilead Sciences is not the only nanotechnology-based medicine delivery mechanism being developed or sold in the market. Nanotechnology can have the capability of delivering medicine precisely where it is needed – it lessens accidental deaths from adverse reactions and it also lessens the side effects. For example, a type of artificial molecule called organic dendrimers is being touted as a great medicine delivery transport. It possesses small spaces which gives it a larger total surface area – a characteristic that makes it perfect for delivering medicine. Research is currently being undertaken to develop dendrimers that actually swell and only release the medicine depending on the presence of certain trigger molecules around it. This would allow for the pinpoint precision of bringing medicine to the exact tissue.
Other medicine delivery systems being developed at present include hollow polymer capsules that respond to signals to release its payload of drugs and nanoshells – small gold-coated glass beads that absorb light, heat up and deform, releasing medicine.
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