aggregates

Fullerenes, also fondly known as buckyballs, are showing an ugly side. It appears that the hydrophobic, or water hating, carbon molecules clump together in water, forming aggregates of thousands of molecules.

And there are reports that these aggregates can be toxic. Now researchers have demonstrated that this behavior can be changed.

New research shows that delivering molecules within aggregates of embryonic stem cells via biodegradable microspheres enhances the efficiency and purity of differentiation.

Researchers in the Netherlands, led by Jan van Esch at the Universities of Delft and Groningen as well as the BioMaDe Technology Foundation, are now pursuing a new angle to produce functional nanostructured systems.

They allow surfactants and gelators to form aggregates. These aggregates coexist without interfering with each other and thus make versatile, highly complex structures with separate compartments.