Researchers aren't entirely sure just how the whole process works, but they have observed the resulting damage of nanoparticles signaling a hit on DNA. They suspect that the events might go differently in situations other than a lab test and that the interaction could be used to deliver medicine or target cancer cells. Either that or further nanoparticle deaths.

While they sort out the details, I'm just gonna stick to being a bit scared that I'll get a package of fish if I upset any nanoparticles anyway.[Pop Sci]

The basic idea is to use nanoparticles to deliver a gene into stem cells which will "encourage new blood vessels to grow so that the tissue stays alive." The results in mice certainly do sound encouraging:

When the modified cells were injected into mice whose hind limbs had been injured, the tissue that regrew to repair the damage had three times the blood vessel density of similar tissue in mice given unmodified cells. Four weeks later, only 20 per cent of the mice given modified cells had lost limbs, compared with 60 per cent in mice that received unmodified cells

The trouble with injecting modified cells like this is that the effects seem to drop off after a period of time. Scientists are looking for other methods, such as using a virus to transmit the gene, but "the viral approach is not without risks–viruses can integrate into the genome of cells and linger permanently, potentially causing cancer or immune reactions." I guess I won't be dashing around town playing heroine anytime soon, but maybe they'll sort out the whole thing in a few generations. [Discover]

The professor and his student have shown that "bad" bacteria cannot stick to the surface, which is great, since it's the type of bacteria that cause dental bills. Teeth polished with nanoparticles still may have bacteria on it, but from what I'm reading, can be easily removed. Easier than with brushing, or else this thing isn't really an advance at all.

It's too bad that by the time the technique is productized and deployed to actual dentists, I'll be 50 and have been toothless for 20 years. [Science Daily]

Most interesting, perhaps, is the possibility of using the nanoparticles to construct metamaterials. In this guise they may find use as "invisibility cloaks"... which are currently nearly impossible to manufacture, and that's where the self-assembly part comes in.

The octahedral silver nanoparticles are produced in solution, and are relatively large scale, which lends them potentially better optical properties than competing nanoparticle inventions. [TechnologyReview]

"Patients often don't die from primary tumors, which you can recognize and detect and develop a therapy for," said Cheresh. "They die from metastatic disease — when, for example, a breast cancer spreads to the liver, the lymph nodes, the brain. Those patients could theoretically be treated with this type of therapy, with the hope that it would prolong the progression of the disease, that the metastatic lesions would slow."

The nanomachines don't just help kill cancer and stop it from sprreading, they can even be used to detect cancer early as well. We'd like scientists to develop these nano bots to give us superpowers like super vision and super strength, but saving us from dying is a pretty super too. [Wired]

These two pieces of clothing have magical properties thanks to nanotechnology: apparently they can help prevent the flu, protect against smog, shield against pollution and attract beautiful women, who will feel an irresistible desire to hug anyone who wears them.

Never mind that this last extraordinary feature will be clearly balanced by the fact that you will be wearing a silver nanoparticle-coated gold-colored dress, with anti-bacterial and anti-stain powers. Or the fact that women may not appreciate your accurate explanation on how your palladium nanoparticle-dipped jacket gives you Deadly Gases Protection: +43.

Although this kind of materials are not new, it's "one of the first times that nanotechnology has entered the fashion world", according to fiber science assistant professor Juan Hinestroza at Cornell University. "Fashion world" means that, if you came here looking for the hot chicks with golden spandex leggings, you will get to the right place by jumping now.

Here's Nicole Grospe and Andrea Clark, wearing Olivia Ong's designs from her "Glitterati" collection. They are all students at Cornell's College of Human Ecology's Department of Fiber Science and Apparel Design.

If you think these nano-fabrics will somehow help you in World of Warcraft, don't count on buying them anytime soon: one square yard of these materials will cost you about $10,000. They were created by Hinestroza and his postdoctoral researcher Hong Dong. The dress' top part fabric was made by dipping positively charged cotton into negatively charged silver nanoparticles, which is the stuff that repels stains and has antibacterial qualities. The jacket includes a hood, sleeves and pockets with fabric treated with negatively charged palladium crystals, which apparently can oxidize smog and help against allergies and contamination. –Jesus Diaz

Student designer and fiber scientists create a dress that prevents colds and a jacket that destroys noxious gases [Cornell University via MedGadget]