Nanoparticles in Medicine

College of Engineering Student Uses Nanoparticles to Fight Cancer Cells

When University of Idaho biological engineering senior Silpa Subedi works with undergraduate students new to laboratory research, she recalls her own experience. As an international student who was new to campus, Subedi knows how daunting being in a lab can be.

“I was very intimidated by the graduate students,” the Nepalese native said. “They were so good at using equipment and knowing what to do. But I told myself I was going to work it out.”

Subedi is now the lab’s most proficient user of particle measurement tools and teaches new students — even at the graduate level — how to use them.

Subedi began her research in 2019, using an inexpensive nanoparticle to help immune systems better recognize cancer cells and fight against them. Subedi is testing the gene delivery capacity — or ability to introduce genetic material into a cell — of these nanoparticles by preparing them in various chemical conditions to test their efficacy.

“Our own immune cells could recognize cancer cells in our bodies and fight them without harming the healthy cells,” she said. “I hope future research can develop a cancer treatment that is cost-efficient and accessible worldwide.”

Office of Undergraduate Research Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship

Article by Alexiss Turner, University Communications and Marketing.

Photos by University of Idaho Photographic Services.

Published in March 2021.