Feature
Photodynamic Therapy
A century-old biophotonic technique continues to develop, offering new, low-cost treatment possibilities for cancer, drug-resistant bacteria and more.
Photodynamic skin-cancer treatment. [iStock / RapidEye]
Since ancient times, humans have been fascinated by the therapeutic possibilities of sunlight. More recently, the desire to use light as a tool in the life sciences has given rise to biophotonics, which combines great advances in our understanding of medicine, and of light-tissue interactions, with the recent technological development of light sources, to create light-based techniques for diagnosing and treating specific diseases.
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