DeviceGuru

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) reports that a team of researchers in one of its labs has found a way to harness carbon nanotubes to seek out and neutralize dangerous proteins such as anthrax toxin, using nothing but light.

According to RPI, the team, led by Ravi S. Kane, professor of chemical and biological engineering, developed the technology, which “remotely deactivates protein-wrapped carbon nanotubes by exposing them to invisible and near-infrared light.” The group demonstrated this method by successfully deactivating anthrax toxin and other proteins, RPI said in a statement.

RPI says the team’s new method for “selective nanotube-assisted protein deactivation” could be applied to defense, homeland security, and laboratory settings to destroy harmful toxins and pathogens, and could also be used for destroying tumor cells.”By attaching peptides to carbon nanotubes, we gave them the ability to selectively recognize a protein of interest — in this case anthrax toxin — from a mixture of different proteins,” Kane said. “Then, by exposing the mixture to light, we could selectively deactivate this protein without disturbing the other proteins in the mixture.”

According to RPI, “the technique lends itself to the creation of new antibacterial and antimicrobial films to help curb the spread of germs, and also holds promise for new methods of seeking out and killing tumors in the human body.” Further details of the project reportedly are disclosed in an article entitled “Nanotube-Assisted Protein Deactivation,” in the December issue of Nature Nanotechnology.