Four rhesus monkeys injected with tiny luminescent crystals called quantum dots showed no signs of ill effects over a one-year period, according to a study just published in Nature Nanotechnology.
Previously, researchers had found conflicting results when they looked at the safety of quantum dots—the crystals had toxic side-effects in cell cultures but not in rodents and other small animals.
Quantum dots are inorganic nanoscale crystals that emit different colored light depending on their size. They glow brighter and for longer periods of time than many other fluorescent molecules. Researchers are currently exploring a variety of uses for quantum dots, from the light-emitting diodes of electronic displays, to the light-absorbing layer of solar cells, and as medical tracers of brain tumor cells.
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