A new high-tech but simple ointment applied to the skin may one
day help diabetic patients heal stubborn and painful ulcers on their feet,
Northwestern University researchers report.Scientist and dermatologist Amy S.
Paller and chemist Chad A. Mirkin are the first to develop a topical gene
regulation technology that speeds the healing of ulcers in diabetic animals.
They combined spherical nucleic acids (SNAs, which are Nano scale globular
forms of RNA) with a common commercial moisturizer to create a way to topically
knock down a gene known to interfere with wound healing.