Harvard researchers convert photons; could be used to fight cancer
For years, people have used near-infrared light for everything from night vision to remote controls, but Dan Congreve and his co-workers want to one day put it to work fighting cancer. A fellow at the Rowland Institute at Harvard, Congreve is the co-author, with Professor Tomislav Rovis and Assistant Professor Luis M. Campos, both in the Department of Chemistry at Columbia University, and graduate students Benjamin Ravetz, Andrew Pun, and Emily Churchill of Columbia, of a recent study that used a chemical process known as triplet fusion upconversion to transform near-infrared photons into high-energy photons, which could be used to catalyze a host of chemical reactions. The work opens the door to a huge range of applications, including a new type of precisely targeted chemotherapy, in which low-energy infrared lasers — which can penetrate deep into the body — could eventually be used to transform innocuous compounds into cancer-fighting drugs. The study...