{"id":130,"date":"2020-03-31T01:55:44","date_gmt":"2020-03-31T06:55:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cd-bioparticles.com\/blog\/?p=130"},"modified":"2020-03-31T01:55:44","modified_gmt":"2020-03-31T06:55:44","slug":"how-nanoparticles-can-help-to-treat-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cd-bioparticles.com\/blog\/nanoparticles\/how-nanoparticles-can-help-to-treat-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"How Nanoparticles Can Help to Treat COVID-19?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/How-Nanoparticles-Can-Help-to-Treat-COVID-19-1-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-131\" srcset=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/How-Nanoparticles-Can-Help-to-Treat-COVID-19-1-1024x576.jpg 1024w, \/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/How-Nanoparticles-Can-Help-to-Treat-COVID-19-1-300x169.jpg 300w, \/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/How-Nanoparticles-Can-Help-to-Treat-COVID-19-1-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Currently there is no vaccine or specific drug against\nCOVID-19, the disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome,\nSARS-CoV-2. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in late 2019, researchers have been\nracing to learn more about SARS-CoV-2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thomas Webster, Art Zafiropoulo Chair of chemical\nengineering at Northeastern, who specializes in the development of nanoscale\nmedicine and technology for the treatment of diseases, is part of a team of\nscientists contributing ideas and technologies to the Centers for Disease\nControl and Prevention to fight the COVID-19. Webster&#8217;s idea of using <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cd-bioparticles.com\/product\/nanoparticles-list-4.html\">nanoparticles<\/a> is that the\nvirus behind COVID-19 consists of structures of similar size to its\nnanoparticles. At that scale, the material is very small, 10,000 times smaller\nthan the width of a single hair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Webster proposed that particles of similar sizes can attach\nto the SARS-CoV-2 virus and destroy its structure by combining infrared light\ntreatment. This structural change will stop the virus&#8217;s ability to survive and\nreproduce in the body. Webster explains that we have to consider the size in\nthis range, as in the nanometer range, if we want to detect the virus, we have\nto inactivate it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The core of what Webster and other researchers call\ntheranostics is the discovery and neutralization of viruses with nanomedicine,\nwhich focuses on combining treatment and diagnosis. Using this method, his laboratory\nhas specialized in nanoparticles to fight the microbes that cause influenza and\ntuberculosis. He believes that it\u2019s not just using one way to detect whether\npeople are infected with the virus, and another way to use it as a treatment\nmethod, but for both detection and treatment, we have to use the same particles\nand the same method.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>SARS-CoV-2 is mainly transmitted through tiny virus\nparticle droplets such as breathing, talking, sneezing, and coughing. These\ndroplets enter the body through the eyes, mouth or nose. Preliminary research\nhas also shown that when these bacteria attach to countertops, armrests, and\nother hard surfaces, they can survive for several days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Webster thinks that&#8217;s one of the reasons why theranostics\nwith nanoparticles has been the focus of the\nCOVID-19 outbreak. Nanoparticles can even inactivate pathogens before they\nenter the body, as they attach to different objects and surfaces. His\nlaboratory has developed materials that can be sprayed on objects to form\nnanoparticles and attack viruses. &#8220;Even if it was on a surface, on\nsomeone&#8217;s countertop, or an iPhone,&#8221; he says. &#8220;It doesn&#8217;t mean\nanything because it&#8217;s not the active form of that virus.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The same technology can be fine-tuned and adjusted to target various viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens. Unlike other new drugs with large molecular structures, nanoparticles are so small that they can move through our bodies without disrupting other functions, such as the function of the immune system. Webster explains that\u2019s like surveyors, they can bypass the blood, and they can check the body more easily, and take longer time to try to detect the virus. To do all this work, the CDC needs to know the specifics about what kind of structure is needed to neutralize SARS-CoV-2, Webster says. The information has not been made public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An alternative to nanomedicine is the production of\nsynthetic molecules. But Webster says that this tactic presents some\nchallenges. In the case of chemotherapy used to treat cancer cells, such\nsynthetic drugs can cause serious side effects, killing cancer cells and other\ncells in the body. Webster still acknowledges that not many researchers are\nworking on nanoparticles to kill the virus. \n\nDue to the size of the nanoparticles, they are ubiquitous (maybe too\ncommon) to penetrate other parts of the human body. To reduce this risk,\nWebster&#8217;s laboratory has focused on using iron oxide. Particles of that make up\nentail chemistry that is already natural to our bodies and diets.\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Currently there is no vaccine or specific drug against COVID-19, the disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome, SARS-CoV-2.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[30,5],"class_list":["post-130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nanoparticles","tag-covid-19","tag-nanoparticles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cd-bioparticles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cd-bioparticles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cd-bioparticles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cd-bioparticles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cd-bioparticles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cd-bioparticles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":132,"href":"https:\/\/www.cd-bioparticles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130\/revisions\/132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cd-bioparticles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cd-bioparticles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cd-bioparticles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}