3/08/2011 PERMALINK
'Nano-Velcro' moves us closer to cancer cell removing implants. UCLA researchers have developed a 'nano-Velcro' technology that can capture circulating cancer cellsm. Circulating tumor cells, which play a crucial role in cancer metastasis, have been known to science for more than 100 years, and researchers have long endeavored to track and capture them. Now, a UCLA research team has developed an innovative device based on Velcro-like nanoscale technology to efficiently identify and 'grab' these circulating tumor cells, or CTCs, in the blood. Combining recent microfluidics advances with this new nano-Velcro could some day produce implantable cancer filters for your blood stream.