SEPARATING THE HYPE AND THE BUZZ 033109

SORRY for the delay but I have been all over the place. Went to DC for a SRA meeting on Regulatory Impact Analysis and to Chicago for a meeting of the International Food Information Council Foundation Trustees meeting. I spoke (officially) in Chicago.

The nano-frontier is still pretty wild and I hope to run out some data we recently compiled on experts and their understanding of nanoparticles very soon. Some of the findings were leaked at the IFIC meeting and you can find that at our web site (pcost.org).

As for March 2009, we have nine (9) notable and a smattering of honorable mentions.

1. TOXICITY TESTING QUANDARY
U. Minnesota and U. British Columbia researchers reported if all existing nanomaterials were to be tested for toxicity, it would cost U.S. industries between $249 million and $1.18 billion, but the testing could take as long as 53 years at current levels of investment. Does this mean we need a bigger investment in toxicity testing or find new ways to test nanomaterials or both? (See ES&T DOI 10.1021/es802388s)

2. NEW WAY TO TEST FOR INHALATION
Scientists at the University of Bern and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich designed a sealed glove box system where nanoparticles are simultaneously made in aerosol form and then deposited onto lung tissue cells.

3. GREEN NANOMATERIALS
Researchers are creating green nanomaterials, with an eye toward their hazards as well as cleanup potentials and pitfalls. (See ES&T, 43:5, 2009, 1247-1249)

4A. CANCER GENE THERAPY
Cancer Research UK scientists have for the first time developed a treatment that transports 'tumor busting' genes selectively to cancer cells (mice study).

4B. MORE CANCER GENE THERAPY
U London School of Pharmacy reports a way to switch off cancer-causing genes and trigger cell death. It is based on nanotubes used to deliver small interfering RNA (siRNA) directly into the tumor mass, which it is hoped will have a significant impact in the battle against lung cancer.

5. PESTICIDE APPLICATIONS
Cornell U researchers how found a way to apply pesticides by encapsulating them in biodegradable nanofibers, which keeps then intact until needed and minimizes loss to drift or being washed away from the plants they are intended to protect.

6. GATES FOUNDATION AND NSF
The Gates Foundation money will be used to bring in researchers from around the world, particularly developing countries. The new program is called BREAD, Basic Research to Enable Agricultural Development. NSF Program Director Deborah Delmer said it will cast a wide net for new ideas and approaches to common problems like poor soil quality, crops that spoil during storage and plant strains that wilt in today's heat — and may fare even worse as climate change raises the planet's temperature.

7. FDA – TEXAS CONSORTIUM ANNOUNCED
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the creation of a nanotechnology initiative in collaboration with the eight Texas academic institutions that make up the Houston-based Alliance for NanoHealth. (These include Rice U, the U of Texas, and the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.)

8. EU COSMETICS REGULATIONS ON THE HORIZON
Parliament approved an update of EU legislation on cosmetics when it votes on a first-reading agreement thrashed out between EP and Council representatives. The basic aim of the new regulation is to remove legal uncertainties and inconsistencies, while increasing the safety of cosmetics. Parliament's amendments add further improvements, especially regarding the claims companies make for their products and the safety of nanomaterials used in cosmetics.

9. SUNSCREENS ALLEGATIONS
U Toledo researchers found nano-titanium dioxide used in personal care products reduced biological roles of bacteria after less than an hour of exposure. Utah State U and U Utah researchers found beneficial soil bacteria cannot tolerate silver, copper oxide and zinc oxide nanoparticles. Both presented at ACS meeting in Salt Lake City.

HONORABLE MENTION

PAPER FOR ELECTRONIC DEVICES
Kyoto University researchers made transparent paper from nanosized cellulose fibers (renewable) as alternative to glass and polymers in electronic devices. Findings were presented at the Salt Lake ACS meeting.

EU NANOFOOD CONCERNS
In a legislative report dealing with an update of the EU rules on novel foods, the European Parliament calls on the Commission to interdict the placing on the market of food derived from cloned animals and their descendants. MEPs also want food being produced by nanotechnology processes to undergo a specific risk assessment before being approved for use and be labeled.

SAUDIS NEW NANO COMPANY
Saudis open the Saudi Nanotechnology Company. According to chairman Prince Bader Bin Saud said the firm would provide the Kingdom with a means of keeping pace with worldwide developments in nanotechnology, rather than it having to rely on foreign research.

HYPE ALERT
Check the Mental Floss website, for How to Destroy Civilization with Nanotechnology" directed by Ransom Riggs. WIRED Science reports: Several teams of social scientists are hard at work, trying to answer that question, and movies like this could turn their world upside down. Nice rhetoric but hardly.

TUNNELING NANOTUBES
Glowing infectious proteins called prions move through a network of mouse brain cells linked by tunneling nanotubes. Experiments are revealing that the tiny threads ferry both beneficial and harmful cargo between cells.

CHINA’S NANO-SPEAKERS
Tsinghua U. used a slim film of see-through plastic to transform almost any surface into an auditorium. It is made from nanocarbon tubes which, when heated, make the air around them vibrate, producing the sound.

NANOLUB
NanoLub has produced a nanotechnology-based (tungsten disulfide)lubricant which can enhance compression efficiency and a reduction of over 5% in fuel consumption of the vehicles.