New from SLAS Technology : Nanoparticle Strategies for Biomedical Applications

SLAS Technology Presents a Special Issue Prepared by Students from the University of Southern California, “Nanoparticle Strategies for Biomedical Applications”

Oak Brook, IL (USA) — March 20, 2019 — The April edition of SLAS Technology features a special collection of articles prepared by biomedical and chemical engineering students at the University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA, USA) that illustrate the growing use of nucleic acids for gene augmentation.

This collection addresses topics relevant to nanoparticle targeting, drug delivery and diagnostics for critical diseases such as cystic fibrosis, ovarian and pancreatic cancer along with research on the use of hydrazones for controlled drug release. The articles provide a background on the various disease states and the properties of the hydrazone bond, the current treatment options available in the clinic and present nanoparticle-based approaches that can be applied to target specific diseases.

All featured articles were researched and prepared by biomedical or chemical engineering students of SLAS Technology guest editor, Eun Ji Chung, Ph.D., an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at USC. “As part as a final research project for my Introduction to Nanomedicine and Drug Delivery course, project teams compiled articles based on course topics including nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems and tissue engineering approaches, among others,” Chung said. “While all team members contributed to the content and organization of the articles, the majority of the final manuscript preparation was completed by the first authors listed, and my name remains on the papers as either a final or corresponding author.”

Together, the articles illustrate the growing use of nucleic acids for gene knockdown or augmentation. In addition, small interfering RNA, microRNA, short-hairpin RNA and plasmids combined with nanoparticles are highlighted along with explanations for how gene therapy, in combination with drugs such as chemotherapy, can be used as an effective strategy against cancer.

April’s SLAS Technology special issue can be accessed at https://journals.sagepub.com/toc/jlad/24/2 through April 20. For more information about SLAS and its journals, visit www.slas.org/publications/slas-technology/.

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SLAS (Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening) is an international community of 19,000 professionals and students dedicated to life sciences discovery and technology. The SLAS mission is to bring together researchers in academia, industry and government to advance life sciences discovery and technology via education, knowledge exchange and global community building.

SLAS Discovery: 2017 Impact Factor 2.355. Editor-in-Chief Robert M. Campbell, Ph.D., Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN (USA). SLAS Discovery (Advancing Life Sciences R&D) was previously published (1996-2016) as the Journal of Biomolecular Screening (JBS).

SLAS Technology: 2017 Impact Factor 2.632. Editor-in-Chief Edward Kai-Hua Chow, Ph.D., National University of Singapore (Singapore). SLAS Technology (Translating Life Sciences Innovation) was previously published (1996-2016) as the Journal of Laboratory Automation (JALA).

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