{"id":37,"date":"2019-12-18T16:25:57","date_gmt":"2019-12-18T16:25:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/?page_id=37"},"modified":"2026-10-23T14:41:07","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T13:41:07","slug":"nanoparticle-research","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/techniques\/nanoparticle-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Nanoparticle Research"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The BioSpec group is developing next-generation nanoparticle technologies that aim to transform how cancer is detected, characterised, and treated. Our flagship programme, Raman Nanotheranostics (RaNT), brings together expertise in nanotechnology, spectroscopy, imaging, and medicine to create a single platform capable of both diagnosis and therapy using light-responsive gold nanoparticles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Funded through an award from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), RaNT is led by the University of Exeter in collaboration with the University of Cambridge, UCL School of Pharmacy, and the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Challenge<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Current cancer diagnosis often requires multiple hospital visits medical imaging, tissue biopsy, laboratory analysis, and subsequent treatment planning. These processes can be invasive, time-consuming, and stressful for patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the same time, clinicians need better methods for detecting disease at earlier stages, characterising tumours more accurately, and delivering targeted therapies that minimise damage to healthy tissues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">RaNT was established to address these challenges by developing a new class of nanoparticle-enabled technologies that can detect and treat cancer using a single minimally invasive procedure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Our Approach<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The RaNT programme uses specially engineered gold nanoparticle clsters that interact with light in unique ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following administration, the nanoparticles are designed to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Travel safely through the body.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Accumulate at disease sites.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Generate highly sensitive optical signals.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Enable identification of tumour location and biology.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Deliver targeted treatment when activated by light. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This combination of diagnosis and therapy is known as <strong>theranostics<\/strong>, an emerging field that seeks to provide personalised treatment through integrated disease detection and intervention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Further Information<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For more information about the RaNT programme, research collaborations, or translational opportunities, please vist the<a href=\"https:\/\/rant-medicine.com\/\"> Raman Nanotheranostics (RaNT) website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The BioSpec group is developing next-generation nanoparticle technologies that aim to transform how cancer is detected, characterised, and treated. Our flagship programme, Raman Nanotheranostics (RaNT), brings together expertise in nanotechnology, spectroscopy, imaging, and medicine to create a single platform capable of both diagnosis and therapy using light-responsive gold nanoparticles. Funded through an award from the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1119,"featured_media":0,"parent":39,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Nanoparticle Research - BioSpec<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/techniques\/nanoparticle-research\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nanoparticle Research - BioSpec\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The BioSpec group is developing next-generation nanoparticle technologies that aim to transform how cancer is detected, characterised, and treated. Our flagship programme, Raman Nanotheranostics (RaNT), brings together expertise in nanotechnology, spectroscopy, imaging, and medicine to create a single platform capable of both diagnosis and therapy using light-responsive gold nanoparticles. Funded through an award from the [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/techniques\/nanoparticle-research\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"BioSpec\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-23T13:41:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/techniques\/nanoparticle-research\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/techniques\/nanoparticle-research\/\",\"name\":\"Nanoparticle Research - BioSpec\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-12-18T16:25:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-23T13:41:07+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/techniques\/nanoparticle-research\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/techniques\/nanoparticle-research\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/techniques\/nanoparticle-research\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Techniques\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/techniques\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Nanoparticle Research\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/\",\"name\":\"BioSpec\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Nanoparticle Research - BioSpec","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/techniques\/nanoparticle-research\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Nanoparticle Research - BioSpec","og_description":"The BioSpec group is developing next-generation nanoparticle technologies that aim to transform how cancer is detected, characterised, and treated. Our flagship programme, Raman Nanotheranostics (RaNT), brings together expertise in nanotechnology, spectroscopy, imaging, and medicine to create a single platform capable of both diagnosis and therapy using light-responsive gold nanoparticles. Funded through an award from the [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/techniques\/nanoparticle-research\/","og_site_name":"BioSpec","article_modified_time":"2026-10-23T13:41:07+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/techniques\/nanoparticle-research\/","url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/techniques\/nanoparticle-research\/","name":"Nanoparticle Research - BioSpec","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-12-18T16:25:57+00:00","dateModified":"2026-10-23T13:41:07+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/techniques\/nanoparticle-research\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/techniques\/nanoparticle-research\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/techniques\/nanoparticle-research\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Techniques","item":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/techniques\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Nanoparticle Research"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/","name":"BioSpec","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/37","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1119"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/37\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1195,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/37\/revisions\/1195"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/39"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/biospec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}