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Nanoparticles have been developed that completely defeat the hepatitis C virus
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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Hepatitis C, a viral disease that successfully "masks" itself as other types of diseases, is one of the most dangerous types of hepatitis, which has taken many human lives. And although research aimed at combating hepatitis C has been going on for a long time, there is still no reliable and effective vaccine against this disease. Now, researchers from the University of Florida have developed and created nanoparticles that effectively destroy the hepatitis C virus in one hundred percent of cases.
The researchers created what they called nanozymes. The basis of these nanozymes are gold nanoparticles, the surface of which is coated with a layer of a composition containing two types of biological agents. Each of these biological agents is a protein-enzyme, each performing its own function. The first enzyme is an active substance that attacks and destroys the mRNA chains, due to which the hepatitis virus exists and reproduces. The second enzyme is a guide enzyme, consisting of a short chain of DNA, which serves to detect the pathogenic organism and which gives the command to the killer enzyme to act.
It should be noted that scientists have already created drugs against hepatitis C that use similar signs of pathogens, but, unfortunately, such drugs have successfully worked only in half of the experimental patients suffering from this type of infectious disease. The results of laboratory tests published by representatives of the University of Florida at the hearings of the American National Academy of Sciences showed that the new nanodrug demonstrated 100 percent effectiveness in test cell cultures and in rodents infected with the hepatitis C virus. At the same time, during experiments with rodents, scientists did not observe any side effects from the use of the new drug.
Of course, developing such an effective means of combating a dangerous infectious disease is of great importance for modern medicine. But despite successful tests using rodents, the new drug must be subjected to more thorough testing to ensure that it does not accidentally work against healthy parts of the human body.
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