A team of scientists*headed by folks at Rice University have developed a way of killing off neoplastic*cells that often remain after surgical procedures and end up causing a recurrence of cancers. The investigators managed to Produce Gold na**particles with Cancer antibodies attached to them that seek out specific Cancer cells. The Gold na**particles are sensitive to laser light, quickly heating up and producing a so-called Plasmonic na**bubble*within surrounding liquid. This destroys the Cancer cell to which the antibody was attracted, but it also pinpoints the location where the killing occurred.
The tech**logy could be used to both help surgeons target Cancer tumors with a few laser bursts, removing most of the offending tissue the old-fashioned way, and following up with a more thorough Plasmonic na**bubble attack to sweep up the remains.
Here’s a short video showing a Cancer cell explode from a Plasmonic na**bubble attack: