A New Form of Carbon is Discovered

In the middle nineteen eighties in scientific circles, there was much debate on whether a third form of pure carbon could exist.  The known forms being graphite and diamond.  In the fall of 1985 Dr. Robert Curl and Dr. Richard Smalley, both of Houston's Rice University, successfully found new forms of carbon.  They found that by vaporizing graphite with powerful lasers, the carbon would spontaneously condense into soccer ball-shaped cage structures.  This molecule contained sixty carbon atoms.  The chemical name of the molecule is carbon 60. Dr. Smalley and Dr. Curl named the new molecule "Buckminster Fullerene" in honor of R. Buckminster Fuller's geodesic domes. They are popularly known as "Bucky Balls".

The next scientific breakthrough came in 1990 when a German / American group and a British group independently showed that carbon 60 could be made in quantities using a carbon arc in an apparatus similar to a carbon arc lamp that might well have been available back in 1890.  They found if they placed the arc in a deep vacuum, a hard substance like graphite was produced.  But, as the vacuum was lessened and approached 75% to 83%, fine soot was produced which was rich in fullerenes.  This process for making fullerenes became known as the Kratschmer-Huffman method.

The properties of this newly discovered form of carbon have been found to be intriguing.  Oxygen atoms tend to stick to the molecule's surface.  The fullerenes release this oxygen when exposed to high intensity light.  When released, this oxygen is in the form of singlet oxygen, which is a potent viricide and destroys diseased cells.  The Kratschmer-Huffman method can produce fullerenes with up to five oxygen atoms attached.
 

Today Dr. Smalley sits on the board of directors of a company that is producing photo reactive drugs using the carbon 60 molecule.  C Sixty, Inc. hopes that in the future these drugs can be used to combat cancer, AIDS, and osteoporosis among other diseases.  Current research at several universities reveal that Photophrin, a compound used currently in photodynamic cancer therapy, is much less effective than Carbon 60.

A drawing illustrating how a Carbon 60 molecule releases its oxygen which then attacks a tumor cell.  (1. Carbon 60;  2. Light activation of C-60; 3.  Free oxygen atom attacking a tumor cell.)

Fullerene Model:   Dr. Smalley and Dr. Curl won the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering  a new form of carbon called Fullerene.

Current Medical Research using Fullerenes

 ISTC Project 2592, titled Laser Fullerene-Oxygen Therapy, is investigating the medical applications of fullerenes. Much of their work parallels the treatments Mr. Cayce described utilizing carbon ash. The project is using carbon 60 to develop methods for the deactivation of viruses, treatment of cancerous tumors and of miocardisishemia. They are also experimenting with carbon 60 in an applicable form as in a gel, film, or liniment, in the treatment of cancers with easily accessible tumors. This treatment is much like that described in the first reading Mr. Cayce gave on the carbon ash. It was to be used on a woman who had cancer of the face. A company named BioPhotoFullerenes, Inc. is developing cancer therapy applications based on the principle of photodynamic therapy utilizing the Fullerene molecule. Initial applications will focus on skin-deep tumor therapy and other skin disease applications.