UWC research group develops new way to treat tuberculosis using nanoparticles

A team of researchers at the University of the Western Cape is working on a new method of treating tuberculosis (TB) with nanoparticles.

Lead researcher Professor Admire Dube says they will be applying nanoparticles to send immunotherapy and targeted drugs to the lungs to treat TB.

In science, nanoparticles are used for a targeted delivery of drugs to the body as they can precisely find diseased cells and carry the medicine to them.

Dube says during their research they deliver compounds that can activate the cells that contain TB. This has resulted in the TB bacteria dying.

Dube says the team intends to test their study on humans in the future.