On Dec. 19, 2023, a research team led by Rice University reported they found that the atoms of a small dye molecule used for medical imaging can vibrate in unison ⎯ forming what is known as a plasmon ⎯ when stimulated by near-infrared light, causing the cell membrane of cancerous cells to rupture.

The method had a 99 percent efficiency against lab cultures of human melanoma cells, and half of the mice with melanoma tumors became cancer-free after treatment. Near-infrared light can penetrate far deeper into the body than visible light, accessing organs or bones without damaging tissue. The jackhammers are aminocyanine molecules, a class of fluorescent synthetic dyes used for medical imaging. The study was published in Nature Chemistry.