La Ataxia de Friedreich, del pasado a la actualidad.- Friedreich Ataxia, from the past up to now

Holguín Ciencias. Año XV, No 4; Mes Diciembre 2009. ISSN 1027-2127

 1. Dra. Tania Cruz Mariño. Profesor Asistente. taniacmarin@infomed.sld.cu. Centro Municipal de Genética de Holguín. Calle Coliseo Esquina Mártires. Holguín. Cuba.
2. Lic. José Luis Guisao Martínez. Profesor Instructor. Agencia de Viajes Gaviotatours. Guardalavaca. Holguín.
3. Lic. Yanetza González Zaldivar. Investigador Agregado. yanetzag@ataxia.hlg.sld.cu

PALABRAS CLAVES: ATAXIA DE FRIEDREICH, ATAXIAS HEREDITARIAS, GEN FRDA

Computer Game Operated By Eye Movements Could Allow People With Severe Physical Disabilities To Become 'Gamers' For The First Time

The technology behind it could be adapted to create more sophisticated games and applications such as wheelchairs and computer cursors controlled by eye movements.

One of the major benefits of the new technology is that it is inexpensive, using off-the-shelf hardware and costing approximately £25 to make. 

Multifunctional Nanocarriers for diagnostics, drug delivery and targeted treatment across blood-brain barrier: perspectives on tracking and neuroimaging

Particle and Fibre Toxicology 2010, 7:3doi:10.1186/1743-8977-7-3

OPEN ACCES

Sonu Bhaskar , Furong Tian , Tobias Stoeger , Wolfgang Kreyling , Jesus M de la Fuente , Valeria Grazu , Paul Borm , Giovani Estrada , Vasilis Ntziachristos  and Daniel Razansky 

Abstract (provisional)

Nanotechnology has brought a variety of new possibilities into biological discovery and clinical practice. In particular, nano-scaled carriers have revolutionalized drug delivery, allowing for therapeutic agents to be selectively targeted on an organ, tissue and cell specific level, also minimizing exposure of healthy tissue to drugs. In this review we discuss and analyze three issues, which are considered to be at the core of nano-scaled drug delivery systems, namely functionalization of nanocarriers, delivery to target organs and in vivo imaging. The latest developments on highly specific conjugation strategies that are used to attach biomolecules to the surface of nanoparticles (NP) are reviewed. Besides drug carrying capabilities, the functionalization of nanocarriers also facilitate their transport to primary target organs. We highlight the leading advantage of nanocarriers, i.e. their ability to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB), a tightly packed layer of endothelial cells surrounding the brain that prevents high-molecular weight molecules from entering the brain. The BBB has several transport molecules such as growth factors, insulin and transferrin that can potentially increase the efficiency and kinetics of brain-targeting nanocarriers. Potential treatments for common neurological disorders, such as stroke, tumours and Alzheimer, are therefore a much sought-after application of nanomedicine. Likewise any other drug delivery system, a number of parameters need to be registered once functionalised NPs are administered, for instance their efficiency in organ-selective targeting, bioaccumulation and excretion. Finally, direct in vivo imaging of nanomaterials is an exciting recent field that can provide real-time tracking of those nanocarriers. We review a range of systems suitable for in vivo imaging and monitoring of drug delivery, with an emphasis on most recently introduced molecular imaging modalities based on optical and hybrid contrast, such as fluorescent protein tomography and multispectral optoacoustic tomography. Overall, great potential is foreseen for nanocarriers in medical diagnostics, therapeutics and molecular targeting. A proposed roadmap for ongoing and future research directions is therefore discussed in detail with emphasis on the development of novel approaches for functionalization, targeting and imaging of nano-based drug delivery systems. Nanocarriers are a cutting-edge technology poised to change the ways medicine is administered.

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