The Healing Power of Gold and Silver by SchiffGold.com
| April 27, 2017
There is healing power in
gold and silver. Both precious metals serve as an investment
as well as money. Gold and silver also have technological
applications. We recently reported that gold is the new
green with a growing number of environmental applications.
Today, we focus on some of the amazing developments using
gold and silver in healthcare applications.
For centuries, silver has been used as an
antibacterial agent and to fight infections. Today, scientists
are using cutting-edge research techniques to study how
exactly silver poisons pathogenic microbes.
The work of scientists like Joe Lemiresuch
from Calgary University is yielding new insights on how
to create effective antimicrobials and avoid the pitfalls
of antimicrobial resistance.
Time to buy old US gold coins
“With our enhanced mechanistic understanding
of silver toxicity, we also aim to develop novel silver-based
antimicrobial therapies, and potentially rejuvenate other
antibiotic therapies that bacteria have come to resist,
via silver-based co-treatment strategies.”
Silver is already used to
control bacteria in many clinical settings and is used in
hundreds of antibacterial products. Corning has even developed
a silver-based Antimicrobial Gorilla Glass that resists microbial
growth. Gaining a deeper understanding of silver’s antimicrobial
properties will help scientists make even better use of the
white metal’s healing properties.
To delve into silver’s antibacterial process, Lemire and
his team use a gene-editing platform that allows them to
screen for and delete genes of specific resistant bacterial
species. Lemire said they have discovered numerous biological
pathways involved in silver toxicity and some surprising
ways bacteria avoid succumbing to silver poisoning. By identifying
how some bacteria resit silver’s ability to kill them, scientists
hope to develop effective methods to attack resistant bacterial
strains.
Silver isn’t alone in its amazing healthcare applications.
Gold nanoparticles are being used in hundreds of millions
of Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs). The gold drives a color
change on the test strip in the presence of various disease.
Scientists have developed test strips that can diagnose
malaria, HIV/Aids, hepatitis, sleeping sickness, and syphilis
with just a drop of blood. According to the World Gold Council,
the tests are simple, reliable and robust, and they can
be used anywhere in the world without the need for expensive
equipment or complex supply chains.
Dr. David Bell explains the significance of this development
in a video produced by the World Gold Council.
“The reason why diagnostic
testing is so important is because most people who die from
infectious diseases die because they got the wrong medicine,
or they got the right medicine, but too late.”
Particle Synthesis Group leads the way in
developing these testing strips. Manager Darren Rowles explains
the key role gold plays in the process.
“Nano-gold is a perfect
accompaniment to any diagnostic kit. It has great stability
at various temperatures, including harsh environments. The
scalability manufacturing process can be done to ensure
we have product that can go into millions and millions of
tests that are manufactured every year. And more importantly,
it has unique optical properties which gives it a simple
clear red line for a positive test.”
Scientists are also developing a test for
prostate cancer utilizing gold nanoparticles. Researchers
at the University of Central Florida and M.D.Anderson-Orlando’s
Cancer Research Institute are working on engineering gold
nanoparticles to attach to cancer-related proteins, making
them easier to detect.
The healthcare applications of gold and
silver are preserving lives. Gold and silver have also historically
helped people preserve and build wealth.