Notre Dame's Accidental Discovery Boosts Drug Effectiveness.

Researchers at the University of Notre Dame have accidentally discovered a low-cost method to enhance the effectiveness of existing drugs by loading them into thermally-modified silica particles. The altered particles can retain chemicals and control their release rate, providing an avenue for improved drug delivery systems and a new understanding of biomineralization. The discovery offers a new tool for making existing drugs more effective and has the potential to create new versions of existing drugs that could be more effective or have fewer unwanted side effects.