Center for Nanotechnology in SocietyUniversity of California, Santa

Barbarawww.cns.ucsb.edu

WEEKLY CLIPSOctober 29 – November 5, 2007

Weekly Clips from CNS-UCSB are now available online: http://www.cns.ucsb.edu/clips/

November 1, 2007

China's role in nanotechnology research and development

UC Santa Barbara’s Center for Nanotechnology in Society (CNS) and the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) are inviting the Santa Barbara community to attend a casual public forum called “Nano-Meeter” to discuss China’s role in nanotechnology R&D on Thursday, November 29, 2007 from 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. in the Faulkner Gallery at the Santa Barbara Public Library.

This Nano-Meeter (formerly called “Nano Café”) will provide an overview of China's effort to become a world technology powerhouse through large-scale government investment in nanotechnology and other high-tech fields. How innovative is China's science and technology? Will China become a world nanotech player in what is predicted to become a $3 trillion global industry?

http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=3148.php

October 31, 2007

US Government Delays Nanotechnology Safety Measures,

Report StatesWant to buy a bag of carbon nanotubes--in quantities from a few grams to hundreds of kilograms (100 kilograms = approximately 220 pounds)? With a credit card and Internet access, you can. But is the U.S. government doing enough to ensure the safety of these materials and the hundreds of other nanotechnology commercial and consumer products currently on the market?

The answer is a resounding "no," says Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies chief scientist Andrew Maynard. "The materials safety data sheet for carbon nanotubes--which provides workers and safety personnel with information on proper handling procedures--treats these substances as graphite, the material used in pencils. But carbon nanotubes are as similar to pencil lead as the soot on my barbeque grill at home is to diamonds."

According to Maynard, "This is just one example of the yawning knowledge gap between the nanomaterials entering commerce now and their safety. And this uncertainty over how to develop nanotechnologies safely, hamstrings regulators, hinders nanobusiness, and confuses consumers."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071031103352.htm

October 29, 2007

Nanotech Needs Ethical Framework, Says Expert

NEW HAVEN - The nanotechnology now celebrated for its potential to revolutionize drug delivery and surgery must also be scrutinized for its potential ethical dilemmas, according to an expert in the new field of "nanoethics."

Patrick Lin, director of the Silicon Valley-based Nanoethics Group, spoke to Yale's Technology and Ethics Working Group on October 10 about the promise and perils of the new science.…But in the rush to fund projects, ethical issues raised by the new technology have been neglected, Lin said.

http://www.conntact.com/article_page.lasso?id=41409

October 31, 2007

Rice expert calls for coordination in nanotechnology research

Nanotechnology holds great promise for the future of cancer therapy and water treatment, but concerns about the safety of nanoproducts may limit these important technological developments, Vicki Colvin said today in comments to the U.S. House Committee on Science and Technology.

…Colvin, director of Rice University's Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology (CBEN) and executive director of the

International Council on Nanotechnology (ICON), was an expert witness at the hearing "Research on Environmental and Safety Impacts of Nanotechnology." The hearing relates to the current direction of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI).

…"There is an urgency to nano-EHS research that affects the entire NNI investment," she said. "Innovation in nanotechnology is being threatened by the uncertainty about its risks. We need this innovation more than ever right now."

http://www.physorg.com/news113053365.html

November 1, 2007

Scientists fear progress lags in nano risk analysis

Scientists warned Wednesday that innovation in the emerging field of nanotechnology is being threatened by uncertainty about its risks.

The concerns were aired at a U.S. House subcommittee hearing about a lack of progress by the federal government in developing a plan to research nanotechnology's environmental, health and safety risks.

…Environmentalists and some scientists say small, specially designed matter warrants extra concern because such particles can easily get inside human cells, or are easily dispersed through the air or in nature.

The real, but unknown, risks are stifling corporate investment in nanotechnology, said Vicki Colvin, director of Rice University's Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology, who testified Wednesday.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/tech/news/5263183.html

October 31, 2007

National Nanotechnology Initiative Needs Fundamental Restructuring to

Effectively Address Nano RisksConflict between promotion, oversight roles impedes

balanced approach

Washington, DC - The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) has been ineffective in addressing the potential risks of nanotechnology and needs fundamental restructuring. That assessment was provided today by Environmental Defense in testimony at a hearing before the U.S. House of Representatives Science and Technology Committee.

“NNI and its member agencies have been assigned the conflicting roles of advancing nanotechnology and addressing its potential risks – with insufficient attention paid to the problems inherent in this dual mission,” said Environmental Defense Senior Scientist Dr. Richard A. Denison. “The result has been a persistent imbalance in the federal effort that favors promotion over prudence.”

http://www.commondreams.org/news2007/1031-12.htm

November 5, 2007

Nanotechnology Deskbook is Guide to Existing Laws Regarding

NanotechnologyNanotechnology promises to have far reaching impacts on the economy, including offering technological advances in pollution control. While over 200 products that use nanomaterials are already in the marketplace, minimal data exist on the health and environmental effects of nanomaterials. This poses significant questions for companies, regulators, consumers, and lawyers.

The Nanotechnology Deskbook guides the reader through the application of existing law and regulations to nanomaterials by exploring domestic laws and regulations and considering developments in the international context. It includes a focus on special business considerations when this technology is involved and concludes by discussing the development of an effective environmental governance structure for nanotechnologies that protects human health and the environment without stifling the development of this new field.

http://www.azonano.com/news.asp?newsID=5264

October 30, 2007

Blog: Europe vs. USA: labeling of nano-enabled consumer products

I was very pleased to be able to participate in the European Commission’s invitation-only 1st Annual Nanotechnologies Safety for Success Dialogue in Brussels on October 25-26, 2007. The focus was

nano-enabled food, consumer products, and medical applications. Our host was the EU Directorate-General of Health & Consumer Protection (DG SANCO). Participants represented the regional European governments, the US FDA, non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) like NRDC, academic scientists, and industry.

Imagine my surprise to realize that the US FDA and industry were both adamantly against the labeling of consumer products that contain nanomaterials. The US feds and the industries both parroted the same line: ‘we don’t want to unnecessarily scare the public away from beneficial products within inaccurate or incomplete information’. When I pushed our US FDA representative to provide a tangible real-world example of a beneficial consumer product that the public may miss out on, he was unable to provide anything other than hypothetical future products promised (but yet delivered) by the nanotech industry.

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/jsass/europe_vs_usa_labeling_of_nano.html

October 30, 2007

Pryor bill gets Senate panel endorsement

Little Rock - A Senate committee endorsed a bill Tuesday by Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., aimed at preventing dangerous products from ending up in stores and in homes.

The bill would authorize additional funding to increase the number of employees of the Consumer Product Safety Commission to at least 500 workers by 2013, to improve outdated laboratories and to place additional safety commission agents at U.S. ports, Pryor's office said in a news release.

The measure would authorize funding levels over seven years, beginning in 2009 at $80 million and increasing 10 percent a year

through 2015. In 2008 and 2009, an additional $40 million would be authorized to upgrade agency labs and $1 million would be allotted to research the safety of nanotechnology in products.

http://www.pbcommercial.com/articles/2007/10/30/ap-state-ar/d8sjp8jg2.txt

November 1, 2007

Russia Pours Billions in Oil Profits Into Nanotech Race

Moscow -- Back in the mid-1980s, a joke made the rounds that the Kremlin was preparing a major announcement: After a decade-long top-secret crash program, socialist science had succeeded in building the world's largest microprocessor.

That was then. After sleeping through the high tech revolutions of the late 20th century, the Russian government is dumping billions into the burgeoning science of nanotechnology. The Kremlin last June announced the creation of Rosnanotekh, a state nanotechnology corporation slated for $5 billion in initial funding -- an outlay that propels Russia past China in nanotech spending, and puts the country on a par with the United States in government-funded nano research.

"Nanotechnology will be the (foundation) for all industries in a science-driven economy," said Mikhail Kovalchuk, director of Moscow's Kurchatov Institute. "Nanotechnology will be the driving force of the Russian economy -- if it can overcome the legacy of the recent past."

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2007/11/russian_nano

November 2, 2007

Nanotechnology to be a key factor in the quest for sustainable energy

Dublin, Ireland -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of Nanotechnologies for Sustainable Energy: Reducing Carbon Emissions Through Clean Technologies and Renewable Energy Sources to their offering.

"Nanotechnologies for Sustainable Energy: Reducing Carbon Emissions Through Clean Technologies and Renewable Energy Sources" examines the impact of nanotechnology on the quest for sustainable energy.

http://www.smalltimes.com/news/display_news_story.cfm?Section=WireNews&Category=HOME&NewsID=153897

October 30, 2007

Natural gas nanotechCould nanotechnology revolutionize natural gas industry?

Nanotechnology could revolutionize the natural gas industry across the whole lifecycle from extraction to pollution reduction or be an enormous missed opportunity, claim two industry experts writing in Inderscience's International Journal of Nanotechnology. They suggest that nanotechnology could help us extract more fuel and feedstock

hydrocarbons from dwindling resources. However, industry inertia and a lack of awareness of the benefits could mean a missed opportunity.

According to Saeid Mokhatab and Brian Towler of the Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Department, at the University of Wyoming, in Laramie, there are many opportunities for the industry to exploit nanotechnology. However, there is a traditional lack of innovation in the exploration and production sector, a perception of high costs, new risks, and a general lack of awareness of the benefits of nanotechnology.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-10/ip-ngn_1103007.php

November 2, 2007

Cytimmune Sciences: size does matter, but smaller is better…

Rockville, MD--Size does matter, and smaller is better -- at least in the nanomedicine world of Dr. Larry Tamarkin, president and CEO of CytImmune Sciences, Inc.

“Nanomedicine is emerging as a new class of cancer drugs,” said Dr. Tamarkin. “This opportunity to bring to market new drugs with the potential to deliver improved efficacy, safety, and patient outcomes is a very rewarding scientific endeavor.”

…“You do need lots of perseverance,” says Tamarkin. “We had to face the fact that we weren't going to be attractive to venture capitalists because no one understood what we were doing and they couldn't assess the risk of FDA acceptance. But the benefits of not having easy funding meant that we went slowly but surely. Venture funding may not have allowed that, so I am gratified that we were able to pursue science the way we wanted.”

http://www.techjournalsouth.com/news/article.html?item_id=4177

October 30, 2007

Cancer study gets tinyLife-saving drugs may be delivered directly to tumor cells if

millions spent on research pay off

The word "breakthrough" is often used when talking about the newest drug or the next treatment in cancer research.

But in dozens of university labs and spin-off companies throughout the Triangle, the phrase "science fiction" might be a better fit.

Behind these doors, scientists are spending millions of dollars to engineer tiny particles that deliver drugs to cancerous cells.

…Knowing that countless patients and families want a cure for cancer today, those involved aren't making promises. Moving an idea from the lab to full-scale production will be difficult.

In addition, studies have indicated that some nanomaterials can be toxic in certain quantities

http://www.newsobserver.com/business/story/754123.html

November 5, 2007

National mission to make India global nanotechnology hub

The Indian government is starting a five-year national mission to make the country a global hub for nanoscience and nanotechnology, leveraging the low-cost advantage and its vast talent pool.

Spearheaded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), the ambitious mission aims to create nano clusters in the country to conduct research in the sunrise sector and develop applications using nano materials that will have a bearing on diverse industrial sectors as well as commoners.

…'By 2020, India will have the youngest scientific talent pool in the world. Our sound education system, large human capital with younger age advantage will make the country a preferred destination for nanoscience and nanotechnology benefits,' he asserted.

http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=3182.php

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