A new study deems mother of pearl or nacre to be the toughest material. Under pressure, nacre’s structure deforms to withstand force and then retains its original form when released. Unlike plastic, the material also fully recovers its strength once released. Continue reading The science behind mother of pearl: what makes Nacre the mother of materials
Chemotherapy is a common cancer treatment, using drugs to destroy cancer cells. However, cancer cells can develop resistance to chemotherapy drugs by developing “efflux pumps”, pumps in the cell membrane that work to actively expel the chemotherapy drugs from the tumor cells. Shana Kelley and her team in University of Toronto developed nanomaterials that can deliver drugs into cancer cells and suppress their drug resistance. … Continue reading Nanomaterials as cancer treatment: overcoming drug resistance in chemotherapy