A FRAGMENT of HIV has been used to create minuscule magnetic beacons for
tracking living cells as they move through the body. The technique could be a
crucial tool for developing and improving stem cell therapies.
The cores of the beacons are specks of easily magnetised iron oxide just 45
nanometres across. These are coated with a glucose polymer called dextran to
make them compatible with living tissue. There have been attempts to use such
nanoparticles to track cells before, but researchers found them ineffective
because most cells would not take them up.
But this month, scientists led by Ralph…
