In the late 1990s, a series of papers described the isolation and propagation of calcified, nanometer-sized structures from calf serum and diseased tissues. These findings prompted researchers at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN to investigate the possibility that transmissible biologic nanoparticles could be responsible for pathologic calcification in the kidneys and blood vessels. Here, a member of the Mayo group summarizes the research to date in this exciting field.
