Discuss “Nanogels used with drugs”

Carnegie Mellon researchers have developed non-toxic, biodegradable nanogels that can be used for delivery of carbohydrate-based drugs.

The nanogels were developed using atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) in professor Krzysztof Matyjaszewski’s laboratory.

ATRP allows chemists to control the number and length of polymers, or molecular chains, by adjusting the ratio of initiator to monomer.

“Using ATRP, we can make spheres of the same diameter, therefore the nanogels are all uniform in size,” said Daniel Siegwart, a graduate student in the Matyjaszewski lab. “We are creating a more homogenous system.”

The nanogels have even mesh sizes, meaning that the distance of polymer chains between the cross-linking points is equal....