Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay diagnostic is the gold-standard for determining cervical cancer, but it is not particularly adept for identifying malignant cells at an early stage.  Researchers at the Ho Chi Minh City Institute of Physics believe they have developed a better technique for early detection: magnetic nanoparticles (iron oxide inside a silicon dioxide shell) with attached antibodies to the human papilloma virus-18.  In this way it become possible to detect the virons alone, before they have infected many cells. MORE