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Press Release 06-172
Melts in Your Body, Not in Your Hand
Super-stable glass may aid drug delivery through the body
December 7, 2006
Leaded crystal and common glass may look similar, but the crystal is made of a rigid scaffolding of atoms, while the glass is a disordered, atomic slurry.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a method for crafting some of the most stable glasses ever formed--materials that are strong and durable like crystal and yet free of the confining properties of an ordered atomic skeleton. They hope the new method will enable drug manufacturers to take advantage of chemicals that had been too insoluble as crystals and too unstable as glasses.
The findings, appearing in the Dec. 8, 2006, issue of Science, announce a method to deposit glass materials layer by layer as a vapor onto a surface with an ideal temperature for yielding stable glasses, an advancement over earlier vapor deposition efforts and different from the more traditional practice of quenching molten material.
Supported by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Agriculture, chemist Mark Ediger and his colleagues at the university collaborated with researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology to craft and study stable glasses. One such glass, formed from the anti-inflammatory drug indomethacin, is a test for how pharmaceuticals could benefit from the new technique.
The latest wonder drugs work only if they arrive in the body where they are needed and at the right concentration at the right time. Some potential pharmaceuticals are hindered by being too crystalline--not dissolving quickly enough, or at all, in the body--or too glassy, breaking down too quickly or in uncontrollable ways.
A detailed University of Wisconsin press release is available at: http://www.news.wisc.edu/releases/13279.html
-NSF-
Media Contacts
Joshua A. Chamot, NSF (703) 292-7730 jchamot@nsf.gov
Jill Sakai, University of Wisconsin-Madison (608) 262-9772 jasakai@wisc.edu
Program Contacts
Charles D. Pibel, NSF (703) 292-4971 cpibel@nsf.gov
Principal Investigators
Mark Ediger, University of Wisconsin-Madison (608) 262-7273 ediger@chem.wisc.edu
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2009, its budget is $9.5 billion, which includes $3.0 billion provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to over 1,900 universities and institutions. Each year, NSF receives about 44,400 competitive requests for funding, and makes over 11,500 new funding awards. NSF also awards over $400 million in professional and service contracts yearly.
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