Scientists develop new kind of photon beam which could fight cancer

Researchers from the University of California, Riverside and the University of Texas at Austin believe they have discovered the Holy Grail of materials science which allows them to convert photons from low-energy to high-energy

High-energy light (like ultraviolet) can produce free radicals, which are used to attack cancer cells, but which cannot penetrate deep enough... Meanwhile, low-energy light particles (like those from infrared) can penetrate deeply but don't possess enough energy

the team may have bridged the gap between the two, allowing deep penetration while creating the cancer-fighting free radicals exactly where they’re needed, all while using non-toxic materials
Source

Scientists have just discovered a way to create a new kind of photon beam - one that could potentially be used as a weapon against cancer. Aside from the potential treatment of cancer, this seems like something that could have all kinds of very useful applications.

a reply to: trollz

People have been using Crystals to heal this way via free radical encuragement for 1000s of years...we have simply been lied to...someones gotta pay for that methinks.

Good stuff, lets hope they can quickly put it to practical use.

a reply to: trollz
The story makes it sound like the problem with high energy lasers is they don't go deep enough.
So they say they can fire low energy lasers into a crystal which emits high energy light.
The only way I see that solves the problem is, they cut you open to place the crystal near the cancer cells.
But how is this better than cutting you open and aiming the high energy light at the cancer cells without the crystal?

If they are cutting you open either way, why is the crystal needed? I don't understand. What am I missing here?

Plus, it seems like you would have better control firing the high energy laser directly on the cancerous tissue, instead of light being emitted by a crystal which may not be as easy to control.