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16 June, 2005: Nanobac Life Sciences Inc, along with researchers from University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and NASA’s Johnson Space Centre, have teamed up to study kidney stone formation. Little, or no progress, has been made during the last 50 years in understanding of kidney stone formation.
The team would apply the same type of instrumentation used to analyze moon rocks and particles collected from space to analyse mineralised particles and stones collected from kidney stone patients.
Researchers from Nanobac have found out that virtually all kidney stones contain calcifying nano-particles, also referred to as Nanobacteria, which are powerful mediators of plaque formation and stones.
A direct injection of nanobacteria into rat kidneys resulted in kidney stone formation.
The team would attempt to find early events in stone formation and verify whether calcifying nano-particles are the initiators of kidney stone formation.
“Although urinary stones comprise the third most common disease of the urinary tract, the underlying cause still remains a mystery,” Dr Marshall Stoller, Vice Chairman, Department of Urology, University of California, San Francisco said.
“This is a rare opportunity to apply some of the most advanced geological analysis technologies, previously used to study lunar samples, to study mineralised particles from diseased tissues,” he added.
NASA says previous data show that astronauts are at increased risk for kidney stones as the result of longer missions and physiological effects of space. “There could be serious health consequences for an astronaut who develops a kidney stone during a space flight, and it could also harm the mission,” said Dr Jeffrey Jones, urologist and NASA Flight Surgeon.
By applying technologies from the material sciences, we hope to solve a medical mystery. What is the underlying cause of kidney stones and can they be prevented, Jones asked.
Nanobac Life Sciences detects and eradicates calcifying nano-particles.
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