Tomalia pioneers dendrimers for nanotechnology

HLovy writes about the promise of dendrimers for near-term medical nanotechnology "Don Tomalia had his eureka moment back in 1979, when the Dow chemist first figured out how to make a synthetic molecule grow some scary-looking tendrils — actually, dendrites. … If I were a Hollywood casting director, I'd pick the dendrimer shape (not the neatly uniform buckyball) for my evil molecule. In reality, though, the dendrimer is far from evil. It might hold a key to fighting HIV or — and I think this is especially cool — can be set to self-destruct at the right moment for use as a targeted drug-delivery device. The full commentary can be found on The Tale of Tomalia"