Oscar Pistorius and the Future Nature of Olympic, Paralympic and Other Sports

in SCRIPT-ed – A Journal of Law, Technology & Society
Gregor Wolbring, pp.139-160

Oscar Pistorius is a Paralympic bionic leg runner and record holder in the 100, 200, and 400 meters who wants to compete in the Olympics. This paper provides an analysis of a) his case; b) the impact of his case on the Olympics, the Paralympics and other –lympics and the relationships between the –lympics; c) the impact on other international and national sports; d) the applicability of the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities. It situates the evaluation of the Pistorius case within the broader doping discourse and the reality that new and emerging science and technology products increasingly generate internal and external human bodily enhancements that go beyond the species-typical, enabling more and more a culture of increasing demand for, and acceptance of modifications of the human body (structure, function, abilities) beyond its species-typical boundaries and the emergence of new social concepts such as transhumanism and the transhumanisation of ableism.

online open access here
Technorati Tags: Technology, Politics, Sports, Pistorius

Nanotechnology: Ethics and Society (Perspectives in Nanotechnology) (Paperback)

Nanotechnology: Ethics and Society (Perspectives in Nanotechnology) (Paperback)
by Deb Bennett-Woods (Author)
description here
I have a little piece in there called “Nanoscale sciences and technology and the framework of Ableism:”

New Bionanoscience dept launched at TU Delft Netherlands

Over the next decade, TU Delft will invest €10m derived from its assets in the new department, which will form part of the university’s Kavli Institute of Nanoscience. The Kavli Foundation will also donate $5m (€3.4m).
The new department will explore the full spectrum from nanoscience to cell biology to synthetic biology to create gene regulation systems, artificial biomolecules and nanoparticles that can be deployed within the cell.

more here

European Food Safety Agency assessing nanoparticles and cloned meat

more here

Nanomedicine, is it the Real Deal?

The Institute of Nanotechnology is organising a public engagement evening ‘Nanomedicine…hype? Or a real revolution in healthcare?’ on the 28th November at the Royal College of Surgeons of London. This free event offers an opportunity to the general public to share their thoughts with industrial leaders, nanotechnologists and politicians.
In the interest of openness and public engagement this panel discussion and public debate, which will be held at the Royal College of Surgeons from 18.30hrs–20.30hrs on 28th November 2007, is free of charge and open to all. Places are limited and, therefore, early registration is recommended. For more information and to register please visit http://www.nano.org.uk/events/ionevents.htm or contact Tiju Joseph, tiju.joseph@nano.org.uk, on +44(0)141 330 8734.

The event is organised in conjunction with the ‘Investing in Medical Nanotechnologies II’, conference and exhibition to be held at the Royal College of Surgeons on the 28th and 29th November 2007, http://nanomednet.org/conference07.

BT Eyes Technology Revolution for the Pharma Industry

In a white paper, ‘Pharma Futurology: Joined Up Healthcare, 2016 and beyond’, BT’s pharmaceutical division brings its expertise in connecting people and businesses to create a big-picture outlook for the industry. The research reveals expected technology inspired changes that threaten pharmaceutical companies with isolation from an increasingly patient-centric healthcare community.
morehere

new column of mine is out Bionics

seehere

NBICS and Climate Change

my new column out

Newest column of mine NBICS, Cultural Identity and Diversity, and the CBD

NBICS, Cultural Identity and Diversity, and the CBD
this is the second part on the convention on biological diversity CBD
first one is
here

and all my columns are listed here

my new column out: NBICS and the Convention on Biological diversity (CBD)

see here
a list of all columns can be found here

“SENSOrimotor structuring of Perception and Action for emergent Cognition”

see more at source
“The SENSOPAC project will combine machine learning techniques and modelling of biological systems to develop a machine capable of abstracting cognitive notions from sensorimotor relationships during interactions with its environment, and of generalising this knowledge to novel situations.

Through active sensing and exploratory actions the machine will discover the sensorimotor relationships and consequently learn the intrinsic structure of its interactions with the world and unravel predictive and causal relationships. Together with action policy formulation and decision making, this will underlie the machine’s abilities to create abstractions, to suggest and test hypotheses, and develop self-awareness.

The project will demonstrate how a naïve system can bootstrap its cognitive development by constructing generalization and discovering abstractions with which it can conceptualize its environment and its own self. The continuous developmental approach will combine self-supervised and reinforcement learning with motivational drives to form a truly autonomous artificial system.

Throughout the project, continuous interactions between experimentalists, theoreticians, engineers and roboticists will take place in order to coordinate the most rigorous development and testing of a complete artificial cognitive system.”
from here

Programmable Artificial Cell Evolution project PACE

The European Commission is supporting the Integrated Project PACE in its Future Emerging Technologies program that will create the foundation for a new generation of embedded IT using programmable, self-assembling artificial cells.
more at source

Neurotech Industry 2007 Report Key Findings

Neurotechnology Industry Report Says Revenues Grew 10% to $120.5 Billion in 2006; U.S. Economic Impact of Brain-related Illness Reached $1 Trillion
Specific findings from the Neurotechnology Industry 2007 Report include:
• Brain-related illnesses afflict more than two billion people worldwide
• The worldwide economic burden of this problem has reached more than $2 trillion per year; more than $1 trillion in the U.S. alone
• 2006 venture capital investment in neurotechnology rose 7.5% to $1.666 billion
• Neurotech industry revenues rose 10% in 2006 to $120.5 billion; this includes neuropharmaceutical revenues of $101 billion, neurodevice revenues of $4.5 billion, neurodiagnostic revenues of $15 billion
• The Neurotech Index of publicly-traded neurotechnology companies was up 53% from its December 31, 2003 conception to March 31, 2006, outpacing the NASDAQ Biotech Index which gained 7% during the same period

Neurotechnology is still very much a frontier industry. In the past year we’ve reached some important milestones, including formation of NIO, the first industry organization devoted to the specific needs of neurotechnology companies. 2006 was also a tremendous year of growth for the industry, and 2007 looks to continue this trend so as technologies improve and our collective body of knowledge grows. Countless opportunities exist as visionary researchers tackle the complexities of brain-related health and visionary companies, organizations and policy makers address the complexities of bringing those discoveries to the billions of people suffering from brain-related illnesses.

more at source

Scientists close in on “cyborg-like” memory chips

Tuesday, May 29, 2007 16:15

Tel Aviv (Israel) – Two scientists from the Tel-Aviv University have
shown that information can be stored in live neurons. The research
results provide a new way to help understand how our brain learns and
store information, but also indicate that a “cyborg-like integration of
living material into memory chips” could become a reality in the
foreseeable future.
more at source

Converging Cognitive Enhancements

Nick Bostrom and Anders Sandberg have another paper out: Converging Cognitive Enhancements, Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 1093: 201–227 (2006). It is part of a NY annals volume titled Progress in Convergence: Technologies for Human Wellbeing edited by William Sims Bainbridge and Mihail C. Roco.
more at source

Edmonton Aging Symposium Recordings

Edmonton Aging Symposium – Presentation Archive – a number of presenations from the Edmonton Aging Symposium, covering both the biomedicine and politics of ageing.

more at source

Our Synthetic Futures

What might happen if we repurpose biology to our own ends?
Newsweek May 27, 2007
more at source

in vitro meat

another of my columns

Human 2.0

more at source

another of my columns out

Neurodiversity, Neuroenhancement, Neurodisease, and Neurobusiness see here

Is the world ready for cyborg athletes?

more at source

Buy your portable brain-computer interface here

If you can’t wait until next year to get your hands on a Project Epoc EEG cap, never fear: a German company called g.tec (Guger Technologies) is now offering the world’s first commercially available brain computer interface (BCI).
more at source

TR10: Neuron Control

Karl Deisseroth’s genetically engineered “light switch,” which lets scientists turn selected parts of the brain on and off, may help improve treatments for depression and other disorders.
more at source

references for Psychological Enhancements: The Reluctance to Enhance Fundamental Traits

JASON RIIS
New York University – Stern School of Business
JOSEPH P. SIMMONS
Yale School of Management
GEOFFREY P. GOODWIN
Princeton University – Department of Psychology March 1, 2007
Abstract:
Four studies examined young healthy individuals’ willingness to take drugs intended to enhance various social, emotional, and cognitive abilities. We found that people were much more reluctant to enhance traits believed to be highly fundamental to the self (e.g., social comfort) than traits considered less fundamental (e.g., concentration ability). Moral acceptability of a trait enhancement strongly predicted people’s desire to legalize those enhancements, but not their willingness to take those enhancements. Ad taglines that framed enhancements as enabling rather than enhancing the fundamental self increased people’s interest in a fundamental enhancement, and eliminated the preference for non-fundamental over fundamental enhancements.
more at source

Robotic age poses ethical dilemma

An ethical code to prevent humans abusing robots, and vice versa, is being drawn up by South Korea.
more at source

Nanotech could revolutionise global healthcare

Nanotechnology has the potential to generate “enormous” health benefits for the more than five billion people living in the developing world, according to a leading professor of medicine.
more at source

My comment: Its much too simple as its outlined in the article more drugs more technology do not good as such if the societal framework (not just related to businesses) is changed. But that does not just mean to direct more tech research priorities towards the needs of the poor. It also means to look at whether new research is actually needed and whether existing tech and sciences can deal with the problem. We have today drugs sciences and technologies who do not reach the people in need. Further more often social changes are much more effective in fighting diseases and preventing the increase of people with a given disease and to make the lives of the poor better than just producing more drugs or technologies.

To slow the progress of Parkinson’s disease, doctors planted electrodes deep in my brain. Then they turned on the juice.

from wired more at source

Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Sentient Rights, Speciesism, and Uploading the Mind

my new column is out

NBICS and Military Products

my new column is out

EURAB pushes European Commission to consider mandatory open access policies

see here
and on this blog

How Insect size robots will fight

see more at source

NBICS and Social Cohesion

NBICS and Social Cohesion new column from me out

Human Rights for the 21st Century:Rights of the Person to Technological Self-Determination

IHEU- Appignani Humanist
Center for Bioethics and

Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies

present

Human Rights for the 21st Century:

Rights of the Person to Technological Self-Determination

New York City

May 11-13, 2007

Cocktail Reception: Friday May 11, 6:00 – 9:00 pm

Location: TBD

Conference: Saturday May 12 and Sunday May 13, 9:00 am – 3:45 pm

Location: 777 UN Plaza, 2nd Floor, New York City, NY 10017

The 2007 conference “Human Rights for the 21st Century: Rights of the Person to Technological Self-Determination” will focus on (a) human rights in the context of bodily autonomy as well as reproductive and cognitive liberties, (b) emerging biotechnologies which may contribute to the exercise of such rights, and (c) challenges to the essentialist ideas of human identity underlying some human rights discourse.

The conference will address the various roles of emerging technologies and other products of scientific progress in today’s society, as well as their implications for the pursuit of bioethics. Potential topics to be considered include nanotechnology in medical treatment, novel vaccines against addictive behaviors, Internet-enabled social networking and engineering, designer genetic engineering, novel transplantable tissue and organ generation, neuroscience and its application to medical advances, as well as reproductive science and women’s rights. The conference intends to provide an open forum for interaction between various stakeholders in this debate, including those representing public, private, and international sectors.

These topics will be addressed through paper presentations and panel discussions. The deadline for the submission of papers is March 20, 2007. Accepted papers will be peer-reviewed and considered for publication in the Journal of Evolution and Technology (http://jetpress.org). Virtual registrations will be also available for those unable to attend the Conference who still wish to submit a paper for review and possible publication.

———————————————————————

Registration for presenters and early registrants is $50, payable by May 1, 2007.

Registration fee includes attendance at the two-day conference.

Cocktail reception: $15 extra.

The conference fee for students who attend is $25, for the general public (after May 1) $75.

The address for the submission of papers, registration fees (by check, payable to “IHEU”) or inquiries:

IHEU

P.O. Box 4104 Grand Central Station New York, NY 10162

Phone: (212) 687 3324 analita@iheu.org

Or by Paypal (online) to

http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/rights2007

Registration forms and other details will be posted on:

http://www.iheu.org/bioethics and at http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/rights2007

———————————————————-

Accommodation packages are available, on a first-come-first-serve basis, from the Pickwick Hotel, E 51st Street and Second Avenue. Tel: 212 355 0300, e-mail: info@pickwickarms.com.

Fifteen hotel rooms have been booked at Millenium UN Plaza Hotel New York, United Nations Plaza, 44th Street between First and Second Avenues, New York,NY, USA 10017-3575 Tel: 212 758 1234 fax: 212 702 5051 reservation: 866 866 8086 email: unplaza@mhrmail.com. Please quote Conference name when booking.

———————————————————-

The IHEU-Appignani Center for Bioethics focuses on raising awareness of bioethical issues confronting the international community and developing and implementing an international program for lobbying. The Center is a new initiative of the International Humanist and Ethical Union. IHEU holds a special consultative status with ECOSOC at the United Nations, a general consultative status with UNICEF and the Council of Europe as well as operational relations with UNESCO in Paris.

The Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies examines the social implications of technological progress, promoting public policies that distribute the benefits and reduce the risks of accelerating innovation. The IEET is chaired by Dr. Nick Bostrom of Oxford University, and served by Dr. James Hughes of Trinity College (Hartford CT) as its Executive Director. The thirteen Fellows of the IEET span expertise from nanotechnology, neurotechnology, biotechnology and information science to bioethics, philosophy and health policy. The IEET publishes the Journal of Evolution and Technology (jetpress.org) and hosts the Changesurfer podcast.

A Spotless Mind?

Policy, Ethics & the Future of Human Intelligence

Friday, February 16, 2007

8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

National Press Club

529 14th Street N.W.

Washington, D.C.

Is a machine-dominated society á la The Matrix or a Borg-esque collective intelligence looming in humanity’s future?

Emerging technologies in the areas of neuro-enhancement and artificial intelligence promise to drastically alter: our ability to augment human intellectual and sensory capacity; the role of machines; and how we connect, communicate, and share information. But, will such changes bring about the panacea promised by their proponents, or will they be akin to opening Pandora’s Box? Even before such interventions become possible, their exploration should not be left to the realm of science fiction writers and pop-culture movie moguls. Rather, society, as a whole, must engage both science fact and science fiction in confronting the issues presented by these technologies – from who gets them to how they should be used.

To that end, the Institute on Biotechnology and the Human Future (IBHF) at Chicago-Kent College of Law/Illinois Institute of Technology is hosting a conference that brings together some of the key voices in the discussion of these critical 21st-century issues:

Ø Keynoters:

o U.S. Representative Brad Sherman, J.D., CPA, (D-CA), member of the House Committee on Science;

o Patricia Smith Churchland, Ph.D., professor of philosophy at the University of California San Diego and author of Neurophilosophy: Toward a Unified Science of the Mind-Brain; and

o Charles T. Rubin, Ph.D., IBHF fellow, associate professor of political science at Duquesne University, IBHF fellow, and author of the forthcoming book Why Be Human? Defending Progress Against Its Friends.

Ø Special Presenters:

o William P. Cheshire, Jr., M.D., neurology consultant at Mayo Clinic, associate professor of Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, and Center on Nanotechnology and Society fellow;

o Marsha Darling, Ph.D., IBHF fellow, and professor of history and interdisciplinary studies and director of the African American & Ethnic Studies Program at Adelphi University;

o Jim Davies, Ph.D., assistant professor at Carleton University’s Institute of Cognitive Science;

o Linda MacDonald Glenn, J.D., L.L.M., faculty member at the University of Vermont’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences in the Department of Medical Laboratory and Radiation Sciences and at the University Vermont in the Department of Biomedical Writing;

o Andrew Imparato, J.D., president and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities;

o C. Ben Mitchell, Ph.D., IBHF fellow and associate professor of bioethics and contemporary culture at Trinity International University;

o Katrina Sifferd, J.D., Ph.D., IBHF affiliated scholar and adjunct faculty member at Elmhurst College; and

o Lee Zwanziger, Ph.D., assistant professor in Science and Technology Studies at Virginia Tech, and senior science policy analyst with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The event will be chaired by Nigel M. de S. Cameron, Ph.D., president of IBHF, and associate dean and research professor of bioethics at Chicago-Kent College of Law/IIT.

RSVPs are required. There is no charge for the event.

For more information: http://www.thehumanfuture.org/events

To RSVP, contact

Institute on Biotechnology and the Human Future

E-mail: rsvp@thehumanfuture.org

Phone: 312.906.5337

Fax: 312.906.5388

PLoS One

A new way of communicating peer-reviewed science and medicine.
Read More at Source

Robots of the Future

Read more at Source

‘Atom-chips’ research wins multi-million pound funding

Physicists at The University of Nottingham are to use refrigerators made from light that can cool atoms to the lowest temperature in the Universe to develop the next generation of ultra-small electronic devices.
Read more at Source

Researchers Demonstrate Direct Brain Control Of Humanoid Robot

Read more at Source

Smart Dust

new column by me is out

http://www.innovationwatch.com/choiceisyours/choiceisyours.2006.12.15.htm

Vibrating Odor Molecules? Rogue Theory May Help Explain Sense Of Smell

A controversial theory that explains the molecular mechanism which gives our sense of smell razor-sharp precision has been given a boost thanks to a study by a team of UCL researchers at the London Centre for Nanotechnology (LCN).
Read More at Source

Policy Implications of Technologies for Cognitive Enhancement

Arizona State University workshop report
Read More Here

The future of nanotechnology: We need to talk report by Nanologue

the Nanologue project, a 21-month EU funded project looked at the social, ethical and legal implications of nanotechnology.
The future of nanotechnology: We need to talk

Ultrastrong Carbon-Nanotube Muscles

Artificial muscles made from carbon nanotubes are 100 times stronger than human muscles.
Read more at Source

Scientific Research Center for Women Soon NBI

JEDDAH, 3 December 2006 — As part of the government’s drive to empower women, a scientific research center will be established in Riyadh with modern facilities for nanotechnology, biotechnology and information technology. The woman’s educational center will be the first of its kind in the Kingdom.

The Ministry of Education and the King Abdul Aziz Center for Science and Technology (KACST) signed an agreement yesterday to establish the center, which is to open a new era in women’s education in the Kingdom and help women to make better contributions to society.
Read more at Source

A multidisciplinary Purdue research team will lead one of eight national nanomedicine development centers.

The National Institutes of Health awarded the team $7 million over five years to study the use of a nanomotor, a microscopic biological machine, for potential use in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases such as cancer, AIDS, hepatitis B and influenza.
Read more at Source

Military nanotechnology – how worried should we be?

(Nanowerk Spotlight) Link to Source All major powers are making efforts to research and develop nanotechnology- based materials and systems for military use. Asian and European countries, with the exception of Sweden (Swedish Defence Nanotechnology Programme), do not run dedicated programs for defense nanotechnology research. Rather, they integrate several nanotechnology-related projects within their traditional defense-research structures, e.g., as materials research, electronic devices research, or bio-chemical protection research. Not so the U.S. military. Stressing continued technological superiority as its main strategic advantage, it is determined to exploit nanotechnology for future military use and it certainly wants to be No. 1 in this area. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is a major investor, spending well over 30% of all federal investment dollars in nanotechnology. Of the $352m spent on nanotech by the DoD in 2005, $1m, or roughly 0.25%, went into research dealing with potential health and environmental risks. In 2006, estimated DoD nanotechnology expenditures will be $436m – but the risk-related research stays at $1m.
Annual DoD investment in nanotechnology; 2006 estimated. (Source data: DoD “Defense Nanotechnology Research and Development Programs”, May 8, 2006)
Proposed and actively pursued military nanotech programs cover a wide range of applications to improve the performance of existing systems and materials and allow new ones. The main areas of research deal with explosives (their chemical composition as well as their containment); bio and medicine (for both injury treatment and performance enhancement); biological and chemical sensors; electronics for computing and information; power generation and storage; structural materials for ground, air and naval vehicles; coatings; filters; and fabrics.
Structure of the DoD Nanotechnology Program
In the mid-1990s the DoD identified nanotechnology as one of six “Strategic Research Areas” (the other five being bioengineering sciences, human performance sciences, information dominance, multifunction materials, propulsion and energetic sciences). The DoD nanotechnology program is grouped into seven program component areas (PCAs), which mirror the PCAs of the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI):

* PCA 1: fundamental nanoscale phenomena and processes
* PCA 2: nanomaterials
* PCA 3: nanoscale devices and systems
* PCA 4: instrumentation research, metrology, and standards for nanotechnology
* PCA 5: nanomanufacturing
* PCA 6: major research facilities and instrumentation acquisition
* PCA 7: societal dimensions

About half of the DoD’s nanotech investment goes to DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), with the rest roughly evenly split between Army, Navy and Air Force. Besides DARPA, the major agencies leading the effort are the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), the Army Research Laboratory (ARL), the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), and MIT’s Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (ISN). In addition, the DoD established a Defense University Research Initiative on NanoTechnology (DURINT). The DURINT program is intended to enhance U.S. universities’ capabilities to perform basic science and engineering research and related education in nanotechnology critical to national defense.
Most of the DoD dollars spent to date have gone into basic research and engineering. Insofar as these engineering and materials aspects of military nanotechnology incorporate engineered nanomaterials, there are near-term issues that need to be discussed and resolved: the potential toxicity of such materials (which applies to all engineered nanomaterials, not just those for military use), their impact on humans and the environment, and if and how release of such nanomaterials into the environment through military use could exceed release from non-military uses.
While very active in developing nanotech applications, the military is much more passive in assessing the risks and is content to monitor what other agencies do. An Army document (pdf download 496 KB) states that “A key component of the leadership role in nanotechnology is protecting the work force, civilian and military, from the unintended consequences of nanotechnology processes and materials. The Army should take an active role in drafting environmental, safety, and occupational health guidelines for nanomaterials to ensure contractors follow best environmental practices in the development, manufacture, and application of the new technology.” However, this “active role” appears not yet to have materialized.
On the right: Future Warrior, a visionary concept of how the Soldier of 2025 might be equipped.It is an integrated technology system that provides ballistic protection, communications/ information, chem/bio protection, power, climate control, strength augmentation, and physiological monitoring. Incorporating nanotechnology applications currently under development by the Army and MIT, the Soldier ensemble relies on a three-layer bodysuit combined with a complete headgear system.(Source: MIT’s Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies)
A spokesman for the U.S. Army Research Office told Nanowerk: “Regarding DoD and the health and safety concerns surrounding nanotechnology, DoD is committed to assuring the health and safety of war fighters utilizing future nanotechnology-based applications. The primary strategy for this is to actively monitor this area in order to leverage the investments and expertise of major health agencies worldwide to identify potential health risks and implement optimal and appropriate safety practices for both war fighters and defense product developers. By partnering with and relying upon agencies such as NIH (National Institutes of Health), EPA, and NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health), who are the true experts with such matters, we believe we will be able to rapidly and accurately address these concerns while simultaneously avoiding duplicative efforts.”

Military Nanotech Risk Factors Go Beyond Civilian Risk
Some of the military-motivated research could clearly have a positive impact on everyday life (e.g., more powerful batteries, bio and chemical sensors to detect pollutants, filters to remove nanoscale pollutants and toxins, smart fabrics). Others not only pose the same potential risk that commercially used engineered nanomaterials do, for instance during production, but, due to their intended area of use, could have a greater chance of reaching and affecting the environment. Two examples:
1) Military activities often result in stuff being blown up. Blasts by high-tech weaponry could release toxic nanoparticles (which already is the case with depleted uranium munitions) as well as large quantities of nanoengineered particles contained in both munitions and defensive weapons systems and armors (e.g., coatings could release particles into the environment, especially during weapons impact).
2) Large-scale use of nanotech sensors could have an impact on the environment when these sensors start to degrade and engineered nanoparticles leak into the soil.
Of considerable concern is the question to what degree military nanotech could lead to destabilization (when one military power develops a technology that others cannot effectively defend against) and undermine arms-control agreements like the Biological Weapons Convention. A NATO study group states that “the potential for nanotech-driven innovations in chemical and biological weapons are particularly disquieting as they can considerably enhance the delivery mechanisms of agents or toxic substances. The ability of nanoparticles to penetrate the human body and its cells could make biological and chemical warfare much more feasible, easier to manage and to direct against specific groups or individuals.”
Other, longer-term risk factors arise from hotly debated concepts dealing with molecular assembly and self-replicating nanomachinery or from societal issues such as the potential destabilization posed by military nanotechnology applications (e.g., What will be the impact of omnipresent sensor nets and autonomous fighting systems? What are the ethical implications of non-medical implants in soldiers?).
Some examples
Here are current and near-term (from today until 2010) projects that will incorporate “free” engineered nanoparticles, i.e., where at some stage in production or use individual nanoparticles of a substance are present (compiled from public information on various DoD websites):

1. Field-responsive particles impregnated in microchannels, fibers, and foam packages to be used as load-transfer devices to remove/relieve skeletal loads (e.g., for built-in splints) (ISN – Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies)
2. Thin films made of carbon nanotubes that can be deposited onto surfaces for electrically active coatings (Naval Research Laboratory – NRL)
3. Quantum dots for sensors (NRL)
4. Advanced coatings containing polymer nanocomposites (DARPA – Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and AHPCRC – Army High Performance Computing Research Center)
5. Nanocomposites and engineered nanoparticles for high-energy munitions (ICB – Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies)
6. Bio-molecular motors (DARPA)
7. Polymeric and nanostructured materials for biological and chemical sensors (NRL)
8. Nanometallics for armaments (Army Research Laboratory – ARL)
9. Energy-absorbing nanomaterials (ISN)
10. Nanostructured magnetic materials for controlled adhesives (DARPA and AHPCRC) and as transduction mechanism for monitoring and controlling biological activity at the cellular and, ultimately, single-molecule level (DARPA)
11. Self Decontaminating Surfaces exploiting surface structures of nanomaterials (DARPA)
12. Nanowires and carbon nanotubes for nanoelectronics (NRL)
13. Neural-electronic interfaces for visual, auditory and motor prostheses implanted into the body (DARPA, NRL)
14. Gold nanocluster-based sensors and electronics (NRL)
15. Incorporating carbon nanotubes into continuous high-strength and high-stiffness structural carbon fiber (DARPA)
16. Energy-absorbing and mechanically active nanomaterials in clothing and body armor that will be part of the future soldier’s battlesuit (ISN)

This list is far from exhaustive. More visionary applications and materials such as performance- enhancing nanoengineered protheses and bio-engineered weapons are conceptually feasible but are unlikely to see realization within the next 10-15 years.
By Michael Berger, Copyright 2006 Nanowerk LLC

Mechanical ‘Artificial Hearts’ Can Remove Need For Heart Transplant By Returning Heart To Normal

Mechanical ‘artificial hearts’ can be used to return severely failing hearts to their normal function, potentially removing the need for heart transplantation, according to new research.
Link to source

Light-sensitive photoswitches could restore sight to blind retinas

(Nanowerk News) A research center newly created by the University of California, Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) aims to put light-sensitive switches in the body’s cells that can be flipped on and off as easily as a remote control operates a TV.
Optical switches like these could trigger a chemical reaction, initiate a muscle contraction, activate a drug or stimulate a nerve cell – all at the flash of a light.
One major goal of the UC Berkeley-LBNL Nanomedicine Development Center is to equip cells of the retina with photoswitches, essentially making blind nerve cells see, restoring light sensitivity in people with degenerative blindness such as macular degeneration.
“We’re asking the question, ‘Can you control biological nanomolecules – in other words, proteins – with light?’” said center director and neurobiologist Ehud Y. Isacoff, professor of molecular and cell biology and chair of the Graduate Group in Biophysics at UC Berkeley. “If we can control them by light, then we could develop treatments for eye or skin diseases, even blood diseases, that can be activated by light. This challenge lies at the frontier of nanomedicine.”

Read more at source

KT offers affordable robot services

KT Corp. will today begin its so-called “Ubiquitous Robotic Companions” services on a trial basis. The operator has been selected as a main service provider by the state-funded National Computerization Agency, which intends to promote the use of URCs. URCs are network-based, intelligent robots priced below 1 million won.

They are operated by simply adding voice-recognition servers and networks onto the existing robots, with the aim of providing necessary services anytime, anywhere.

The trial service will continue till the end of this year in 1,000 households and public facilities such as airports and Seoul Station. About 1,020 robots will be in operation during the trial period. “Seven different kinds of robots will offer various services ranging from reading books to speaking foreign languages, singing songs and home-monitoring via KT’s broadband services Megapass and Nespot,” said an official at KT.

Home-monitoring enables watching the elderly or babies from outside the home.

Robots will also offer daily news, weather information and recipes, as well as clean homes. Users will only have to attach recognition codes to necessary locations in homes to direct the robots.

(siyoungh@heraldm.com)

By Hwang Si-young
Link to Source

U.S. Pledges $34.5 Million for Renewable Energy Technologies

13 October 2006
U.S. Pledges $34.5 Million for Renewable Energy Technologies

Biofuels, solar energy and biomass genomics research to benefit from investment

By Cheryl Pellerin
Washington File Staff Writer

Close Window
Energy Northwest’s White Bluffs Solar Station near Richland, Washington, is located near the abandoned Washington Nuclear Project One, in the background. The demonstration project, composed of more than 200 photovoltaic panels, is one of the public power agency’s explorations into renewable energy production. (© AP Images)
Enlarge Photo
Energy Northwest’s White Bluffs Solar Station near Richland, Washington. (© AP Images)

Washington — U.S. energy and agriculture officials announced $34.5 million is available to fund new research in biofuels, solar energy and biomass genomics research to accelerate development of alternative fuels.

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Samuel Bodman and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Mike Johanns announced the funding October 11 at “Advancing Renewable Energy: An American Rural Renaissance,” a conference hosted by both agencies in St. Louis to further President Bush’s Advanced Energy Initiative.

The initiative seeks to accelerate the commercialization of clean, affordable alternative and renewable sources of energy by changing the way Americans power cars, homes and businesses.

Bodman and Johanns announced nearly $17.5 million for 17 biomass research, development and demonstration projects, and more than $13 million to fund new research in solar technologies.

Raymond Orbach, DOE under secretary for science, announced $4 million for bio-based fuels research, and both departments solicited research proposals for new plant genomics research projects, which would involve the genetic modification of plants for the improved production of fuels such as ethanol or renewable chemical feedstocks.

ENERGY FROM PLANTS

Biomass is an energy resource that includes organic matter, such as wood, agricultural waste, algae, sewage and other living-cell material that can be burned or chemically processed to produce heat energy (See related article.)

Biomass, which supplies about 3 percent of total U.S. energy consumption in the form of electricity, process heat and transportation fuels, helps diversify the energy supply and support rural economies.

“Americans are discovering the road to energy independence is paved with natural resources grown right here at home,” Johanns said. “This is a new era for America’s farmers, ranchers and rural communities as they seize this moment where opportunity meets need, and where American ingenuity breaks a century long addiction to oil.”

The grants are intended to develop technologies needed to help make biobased fuels cost-competitive with fossil fuels in the commercial market. The chosen projects will include research, development and demonstrations of biobased products, bioenergy, biofuels and biopower.

Of the nearly $17.5 million announced October 11, $12.8 million is funded by USDA and $4.7 million by DOE. DOE funds will go to three projects developing cellulosic (from cellulose, the main part of the cell wall in most plants) biomass. USDA will provide funding to address such topics as feedstock production and product diversification.

Under the Biomass Research and Development Initiative, a joint USDA-DOE effort established in 2000 and reauthorized in the comprehensive Energy Policy Act of 2005, projects receiving awards must demonstrate collaboration among biomass experts. (See related article.)

The initiative aims to enhance creative approaches to developing next-generation advanced technologies and promote research partnerships among colleges, universities, national laboratories, federal and state research agencies and the private sector.

BIOMASS GENOMICS

Biotechnology offers the promise of dramatically increasing ethanol production using cellulose, the most abundant biological material on earth, and similar organic materials. Materials such as post-harvest corn plants (stover) and timber residues could be used, along with specialized high-biomass “energy” crops like domesticated poplar trees and switchgrass, a hardy, fast-growing grass native to North America that is considered a good candidate for biofuel production.

“We are seeking to accelerate research breakthroughs that contribute towards making biofuels a cost-effective alternative to fossil fuels, with a goal of replacing 30 percent of transportation fuels with biofuels by 2030,” Orbach said.

“This joint research initiative shows a commitment to acquiring new alternative energy resources and improving the efficiency with which biomass and plant feedstocks are used to produce renewable fuels such as ethanol,” Under Secretary of Agriculture Tom Dorr said.

The new funding continues a 2006 commitment to conduct a fundamental research program in biomass genomics that will build the scientific foundation to facilitate the use of woody plant tissue for bioenergy and biofuels. Developing such crops for energy fuels could use less-intensive production techniques and poorer-quality land, avoiding competition with food production on the most fertile land.

The program will take advantage of advances in breeding, molecular genetics and genomic technologies and build on the existing knowledge of plant biology to help researchers confidently predict and manipulate plants’ biological function for bioenergy resources.

POWER FROM THE SUN

Photovoltaic devices use solar cells or arrays to turn sunlight into electricity and they have little impact on the environment. Photovoltaics can be used in a wide range of products, from small consumer items to large commercial solar electric systems. (See related article.)

The $13 million announced for solar technologies at the St. Louis conference is part of President Bush’s $148 million Solar America Initiative. The funding will support the development of more efficient photovoltaic devices.

“This investment is a major step in our mission to bring clean, renewable solar power to the nation,” Bodman said. “If we are able to harness more of the sun’s power and use it to provide energy to homes and businesses, we can increase our energy diversity and strengthen our nation’s energy security.”

The Solar America Initiative aims to make solar power cost competitive with conventional electricity sources by 2015, by developing materials that convert sunlight directly to electricity.

The $13 million in funding, including about $4.5 million to be awarded for fiscal year 2007, will support several projects, including:

• Solar codes and standards working group leadership, a five-year, $4.2-million project designed to create and operate a national working group to manage solar regulatory codes and standards. Sample work includes recommending or developing model codes and standards and helping in their implementation, developing codes and standards studies, and monitoring emerging codes and standards issues;

• State strategic partnerships, a three-year, $1.35-million project in which DOE will enlist the help of state membership organizations as strategic partners on solar issues, and allow recipients to foster strong relationships with targeted state partners to promote solar energy technology adoption; and

• Utility strategic partnerships, a three-year, $1.35 million cost-shared project to enlist the help of utility membership organizations as strategic partners to deliver key assistance to utilities to enable the success of the Solar America Initiative.

For additional information, see Clean Energy Solutions.

More information on the solicitation and facts about the Solar America Initiative can be found on the DOE Web site, along with information about biomass and the biomass genomics joint research program.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
Link to Source

DNA switch developed to interface living organisms with computers

DNA switch developed to interface living organisms with computers
(Nanowerk News) Researchers at the University of Portsmouth have developed an electronic switch based on DNA – a world-first bio-nanotechnology breakthrough that provides the foundation for the interface between living organisms and the computer world….
The new technology is called a ‘nanoactuator’ (shown in the image above) or a molecular dynamo. The device is invisible to the naked eye – about one thousandth of a strand of human hair.
The DNA switch has been developed by British Molecular Biotechnology expert Dr Keith Firman at the University of Portsmouth working in collaboration with other European researchers.
Dr Firman and his international team have been awarded a €2 million (£1.36m) European Commission grant under its New and Emerging Science and Technology (NEST) initiative to further develop this ground-breaking new technology.
But the DNA switch has immediate practical applications in toxin detection, and could be used in a biodefence role as a biological sensor to detect airborne pathogens.
The future applications are also considerable, including molecular scale mechanical devices for interfacing to computer-controlled artificial limbs.
‘The possibilities are very exciting. The nanoactuator we have developed can be used as a communicator between the biological and silicon worlds,’ Dr Firman said.
‘I could see it providing an interface between muscle and external devices, but it has to be pointed out that such an application is still 20 or 30 years away.’
The molecular switch comprises of a strand of DNA anchored in a miniscule channel of a microchip, a magnetic bead, and a biological motor powered by the naturally occurring energy source found in living cells, adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
These elements working together create a dynamo effect which in turn generates electricity. The result is a device that emits electrical signals – signals that can be sent to a computer. The switch, therefore, links the biological world with the silicon world of electronic signals.
The nanoactuator has been patented by the University of Portsmouth, and a patent application for the basic concepts of biosensing is pending.
The nanoactuator project is part of a multinational collaboration between the University of Portsmouth, The National Physical Laboratory (UK), TU Delft (The Netherlands), CNRS/ENS (France), INESC-Portugal, EMPA (Switzerland) and IMIC (Czech Republic).
Source: University of Portsmouth
Link to Source

Interdisciplinary Grant To Yale: Creating Nanodevices For Delivery Of Vaccines

22 Oct 2006

A team of Yale biomedical engineers and cell biologists received a $1-million award from the National Science Foundation to develop “smart nanoparticles” for the delivery of vaccines.

Led by
Tarek Fahmy
, assistant professor of
biomedical engineering
, the team will apply the two-year, Nanoscale Interdisciplinary Research Team (NIRT) funding to develop a new class of nanomaterials with properties that mimic biological vectors like bacteria and viruses.

“While previous research has shown that safe, biocompatible materials can be engineered into nanoparticles that contain drugs or vaccines, we will develop new materials for vectors that interact specifically and predictably with cells,” said Fahmy. “Our nanosystems will be designed to evade the normal barriers and stimulate antigen-presenting cells of the immune system.”

The researchers propose to construct the “smart nanoparticle” vaccine delivery system using a simple, modular approach that can be easily modified to meet the requirements of any particular vaccine. They expect this approach to be safer and more effective than current methods of co-administering an adjuvant or delivering live attenuated or killed bacteria or viruses to amplify the immune response.

“We will specifically target antigen-presenting cells such as the dendritic cells that are uniquely responsible for initiating immune responses,” said
Ira Mellman
, chair and Sterling Professor of
Cell Biology
. “Targeting antigens to dendritic cells is emerging as a powerful novel strategy for vaccination.”

The researchers will also track the fate and biological activity of the “smart nanoparticles” in cultured dendritic cells (DCs), to optimize the fate of the internalized nanoparticles and the release of the encapsulated antigen.

Their approach promises flexibility for integrating different DC surface proteins, enabling optimal DC population targeting and priming, delivery of a wide variety of antigens of clinical importance, and assembly of different combinations of recognition and antigen modules for a broad-spectrum potent vaccine response.

###

Co-investigators on the grant are
Michael Caplan
, professor of physiology and cell biology and
Mark Saltzman
, professor and chair of biomedical engineering at Yale.

Link to Source

Biology via design, and print via 3-D

Biology via design, and print via 3-D
By Conrad de Aenlle International Herald Tribune

Published: October 20, 2006
The marvels of the information age exist mainly in two dimensions on a computer disk or monitor. In the post-information age, they are expected to be more tangible and substantial, occupying the same three-dimensional space we do.

One of the most intriguing developments anticipated by Marina Gorbis, executive director of the Institute of the Future, is “intentional biology,” or genetic, pharmaceutical or mechanical biological alteration. “We’re going to be able to design and manipulate our bodies more and more and hack into them in various ways,” she predicted.

Three pioneers in this field – Synthetic Genomics, founded by Craig Venter, a leading figure in mapping the human genome; Codon Devices; and Amyris Biotechnologies – are hacking into lower forms of life, for now, including organisms invented in their labs.

Two companies Gorbis mentioned that work on the human nervous system were Cyberkinetics, which makes neural stimulation devices, and the drug maker Memory Pharmaceuticals.

Another nascent development expected to flourish in coming decades is a three-dimensional printer that would use nanotechnology to make physical objects by dispersing molecules according to programmed patterns, much as a conventional printer sprays ink to form words and images on a page.

“You put in a formula and design for something, and the printer will etch, layer by layer, the actual three-dimensional object,” Gorbis said. She emphasized that the results would not be holographic images or other facsimiles, but actual objects, including functional electronic equipment.

She expects 3-D printers to be a fact of commercial life “definitely in the next 20 to 30 years,” but some companies, notably Z Corp. and Stratasys, are getting a head start. They make prototypical printers used in industrial design.

The big promise of 3-D printers is that they will usher in a new era of home-based manufacturing and unprecedented choice, Gorbis said. She foresees an intermediate stage in which makers of, say, cellphones invite customers to a store to create the handset of their choice on the spot. After that, she said, they may become fairly ordinary pieces of household equipment.

“This changes the way we think about materials,” she said. “You just get the chemical package and assemble it. This allows us to create light products that are highly flexible and personal.”

The marvels of the information age exist mainly in two dimensions on a computer disk or monitor. In the post-information age, they are expected to be more tangible and substantial, occupying the same three-dimensional space we do.

One of the most intriguing developments anticipated by Marina Gorbis, executive director of the Institute of the Future, is “intentional biology,” or genetic, pharmaceutical or mechanical biological alteration. “We’re going to be able to design and manipulate our bodies more and more and hack into them in various ways,” she predicted.

Three pioneers in this field – Synthetic Genomics, founded by Craig Venter, a leading figure in mapping the human genome; Codon Devices; and Amyris Biotechnologies – are hacking into lower forms of life, for now, including organisms invented in their labs.

Two companies Gorbis mentioned that work on the human nervous system were Cyberkinetics, which makes neural stimulation devices, and the drug maker Memory Pharmaceuticals.

Read More

Hip chip uses nanotechnology to monitor healing

(Nanowerk News) It is as small as the tip of a pen, but a microsensor created by University of Alberta engineers may soon make a huge difference in the lives of people recovering from hip replacement surgery.
The U of A research team has invented a wireless microsensor to monitor the bone healing process after surgery. Using nanotechnology, the researchers built a tiny device that measures the degree to which bone attaches itself to a surgical implant – a process called osseointegration – and lets doctors know when the joint needs to be replaced.
“The ability to monitor and quantify this healing process is critical to orthopedic surgeons in determining a patient’s rehabilitation progress,” said Dr. Walied Moussa, a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, who has a lab in the National Research Council’s National Institute for Nanotechnology, based at the U of A. “Until now, there has been no quantitative method for assessing osseointegration.”
“This microsensor not only reduces post-operation recovery time, it will also help reduce the wait time for patients needing artificial joint implants,” he said.
The sensor will be permanently implanted with the joint and is powered kinetically – it uses the natural movement of the patient’s body as its power source. It stays dormant until a doctor asks it to start transmitting data.
Careful monitoring of how patients are healing will help them recover as quickly as possible and resume normal activities with less chance of stressing the fracture during recovery and rehabilitation. It also allows the surgeon to more accurately decide when it is safe to send patients home from the hospital with their new implants.
The device will also cut down the need for X-rays to monitor bone functionality, reducing costs and exposure to radiation. And the sensor can detect and identify bone loss before it’s even visible on a radiograph.
This research can also be applied to artificial knees, hip replacement and other joint therapy.
Earlier this year, TEC Edmonton, a joint initiative of the U of A and Edmonton Economic Development Corp., filed a provisional U.S. patent application for the work.
Moussa collaborated on this project with Dr. Edmond Lou, a research associate in the Rehabilitation and Technology Department of Glenrose Hospital in Edmonton and an adjunct professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Dr. John Cinats, section head of orthopedics for Capital Health and associate clinical professor at the University of Alberta Hospital.
Source: University of Alberta

Link to Source of the above article

and here

Nano-forestry

I published a column on Nanoforestry recently
and since than other news appeared e.g. Nanocoating woodfibers results in smart paper. In the column I also dealt with the link between nano-forestry and biofuel and with the link between synthetic biology and biofuel and right after I published my nanoforestry column I saw the news item Amyris Biotechnologies Synthetic Biology Pioneer Expands Into Bioenergy Field which I mentioned in the blog here a few days ago. To be on top of things it seems one has to have ones sensors in the advances of many different sciences and technologies and be aware of the numerous applications all of these sciences and technologies go for. ..

Neurotechnology Industry Organization Launched to Advance Treatments for Brain and Nervous System Illnesses

Oct 13 2006, 8:31 AM EST

(BIOWIRE)– More than 20 leading pharmaceutical, medical device, and diagnostic companies, along with major academic brain research centers and patient advocacy groups, have joined together to form a new trade association called the Neurotechnology Industry Organization (NIO). Based in San Francisco, California, NIO is a non-profit group created to accelerate the development of treatments and cures for brain and nervous system diseases.

The $110 billion neurotechnology industry includes pharmaceuticals, biologics, cell-based therapeutics and medical devices, as well as diagnostic and surgical equipment for critical unmet needs including: Alzheimer’s, addiction, anxiety, depression, epilepsy, hearing loss, insomnia, multiple sclerosis, obesity, pain, Parkinson’s, schizophrenia, stroke and other brain-related illnesses.

“Despite the clear need and significant market opportunity, neurotechnology companies face a host of issues that stifle innovation, growth and rapid delivery of effective therapies. NIO will provide a collective voice for commercial neuroscience organizations to address these issues,” said Zack Lynch, Founder and Executive Director of the newly formed Neurotechnology Industry Organization. “We will kick off our first year with a global awareness campaign highlighting the industry’s progress and a public policy tour for members to interact with government officials.”

Over 1.5 billion people worldwide and nearly 100 million Americans suffer from a brain or nervous system illness. In addition to untold human suffering, the annual economic burden has reached over $1 trillion worldwide with $300 billion a year in the U.S alone. This burden is accelerating as the population ages and population increases. These factors are creating unprecedented demand for treatments that delay, prevent and cure chronic neurological and psychiatric diseases.

The 500 companies involved in commercial neuroscience face fundamentally different investment requirements, research and development challenges, and regulatory milestones than other life science and healthcare companies. NIO was created to help governments, patients, and the public understand the unique needs of the neurotech industry.

“We are delighted to be a founding member of NIO,” said J. Donald deBethizy, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Targacept, Inc. “We are pleased that this advocacy group has been formed to address the important issues of our industry.”

Founding member organizations span a broad spectrum of drug, device and diagnostic companies from across the world unified by common interests. They include: Acumen Pharmaceuticals (South San Francisco, CA), Amarin Corporation (London, England), Brain Resource Company (Sydney, Australia), Ceregene (San Diego, CA), Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems Inc. (Boston, MA), NeuroPace (Mountain View, CA), NeuroNova AB (Stockholm, Sweden), Sound Pharmaceuticals (Seattle, WA), Targacept, Inc. (Winston-Salem, NC), and United Therapeutics (Silver Spring, MD); neuroscience research centers including: Allen Institute for Brain Science (Seattle, WA), Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute (Morgantown, WV), McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT (Cambridge, MA), and the MIND Institute (Albuquerque, NM); patient advocacy groups and research foundations including: Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (New York, NY), Epilepsy Therapy Development Project (Reston, VA) and Neurotech Network (Tampa, FL); venture capital firms NeuroVentures (Charlottesville, VA) and Technology Partners (Palo Alto, CA); and strategic partner Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds LLP (Washington, DC).

About the Neurotechnology Industry Organization

The Neurotechnology Industry Organization (NIO) is a non-profit trade association that represents a broad spectrum of companies involved in neurotechnology (drugs, devices and diagnostics), neuroscience research centers and brain disease advocacy groups across the United States and the world. NIO’s mission is to accelerate cures for brain and nervous system diseases by promoting the neurotechnology industry’s progress, advocating the industry’s position to government officials, and providing business development services to its members. For more information on the Neurotechnology Industry Organization, please visit www.neurotechindustry.org

About the Neurotechnology Industry Organization

A Boost For Solar Cells With Photon Fusion

October 13, 2006

An innovative process that converts low-energy longwave photons (light particles) into higher-energy shortwave photons has been developed by a team of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz and at the Sony Materials Science Laboratory in Stuttgart. With the skillful combination of two light-active substances, the scientists have, for the first time, manipulated normal light, such as sunlight, to combine the energy in photons with particular wavelengths (Physical Review Letters, October 4, 2006). This has previously only been achieved with a similar process using high-energy density laser light. The successful outcome of this process could lay the foundation for a new generation of more efficient solar cells.
Read more

Environmental Health News Good News Collection of newsitems

Some url to may be follow

Cell-Like Nano Particles for Attacking Disease

Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Researchers are developing smart “nanocarriers” for drug delivery and diagnostics.
By Kevin Bullis
Using parts of living cells in a smart nanotechnology-based system, researchers in Switzerland have demonstrated a “nanocarrier” that can target specific types of cells and light up in response to conditions in their immediate environment.

The work is part of a growing effort by scientists worldwide to develop nano devices that can circulate in the bloodstream, slip stealthily past the body’s immune system, attach to cancer or inflammatory cells (an important ability in diseases such as atherosclerosis and arthritis), and deliver a deadly drug payload–destroying some of the toughest diseases without the often debilitating side effects that can accompany chemotherapy (see “Nanomedicine”).

Already, early versions of such nano-based treatments have been approved for breast cancer. But Patrick Hunziker, a physician at University Hospital Basel, and Wolfgang Meier, professor of chemistry at the University of Basel, are attempting to trigger the release of the drugs at more precise locations and at release rates adjusted to have the most effect on a particular disease.

One promising approach to achieving this goal is to develop nanocarriers that can respond to cues in their immediate environment, similar to how living cells can open and shut membrane pores. Hunziker and Meier have just reported in the journal Nano Letters on a system that incorporates bacterial proteins that form such pores.

The researchers first developed a type of polymer that self-assembles to form hollow spheres about 200 nanometers across. During the assembly process, they introduce the pore proteins, which form channels in the polymer spheres. As in bacteria, where the pores can close to protect cells from acidic environments, these channels also open and close in response to changes in pH. Read more

Highly functional biosurfactants using yeasts

(Nanowerk News) With the collaboration of Toyobo Co., Ltd, Dai Kitamoto, Group Leader of the Biochemical Materials Group of the Research Institute for Innovation in Sustainable Chemistry, of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), has succeeded in developing a highly functional biosurfactants.
The developed biosurfactants present superb skin moisturizing characteristics equivalent to those of natural ceramides, and it can be used in functional cosmetics and for other skin care products. The biosurfactants consist of only sugar and fatty acids, and are thus highly environmentally friendly. They can also be used for high-performance washing detergents and advanced nanomaterials, because they easily form a variety of liquid crystals in aqueous solutions. Read more

Grow Your Own Limbs

By Kristen Philipkoski| Also by this reporter
02:00 AM Sep, 22, 2006

In response to the hundreds of soldiers coming home from war with missing arms or legs, Darpa is spending millions of dollars to help scientists learn how people might one day regenerate their own limbs.

Prosthetics are getting better all the time, but they will never be as good as the limbs we were born with. So two teams of scientists at 10 institutions across the country are competing to regrow the first mammalian limb.

The two groups are sharing $7.6 million in grants for a year to find a way to give humans salamander-like abilities. According to Army Medical Command, 411 soldiers who fought in Iraq and 37 in Afghanistan are amputees as a result of combat wounds. If preliminary research is successful, the scientists could receive more funding for up to four years.
Motor Heads
The New Bionics
The prosthetics of the not-so-distant future are intertwined with muscles, nerves … even neurons. By Rachel Metz.

Interactive Bionics Tour:
See applied prosthetics research in action.

DIY Prosthetics
Amputees who can’t find the right prosthetics on the market build their own — sometimes out of Legos. By Quinn Norton.

Grow Your Own Limbs
Scientists are learning how amputees might eschew the prosthetic and grow back missing limbs. By Kristen Philipkoski. [ You are here ]

I Want My Bionics
What if bionics get so good that we want them even if we don’t need them? By Chris Oakes. [ Coming Sep 25 ]

The researchers’ first milestone is to generate a blastema — a mass of cells able to develop into various organs or body parts — in a mammal.

“We have to show we can do that in a mammal by 24 months — and by 48 months we have to show that we can actually regrow digits,” said Stephen Badylak, director of the Center for Pre-Clinical Tissue Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh’s McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and a principal investigator for his team. “This is really a Star Wars-type project.”

Mammals can’t naturally regenerate limbs or digits beyond the fetal stage. Amphibians like salamanders and newts, however, can regrow limbs, eyes and even spinal cords. So the scientists are on a hunt for the molecular signals responsible for controlling that regenerative ability.

“We’re looking for what genes get turned on and off to make one regenerative and one not,” Badylak said. “We can regenerate as a fetus. We know the potential is there, but it’s a matter of unlocking that potential (in adults).”

Badylak’s team is working with a remarkably regenerative mammal — a mouse discovered by accident in 1998.

Story continued on Page 2

Nanotube Scaffolds for Neural Implants

Friday, September 22, 2006
Tiny carbon fibers are helping stem cells to grow in stroke-damaged brains.

By Jennifer Chu
Stem cells are a promising therapy for stroke and other brain injuries–they can sprout into healthy neurons and may be able to re-establish brain activity in brain-injured patients. While preliminary animal research shows promise, there’s often a common hurdle: adult stem cells have a hard time growing in damaged areas and tend to migrate to healthier regions of the brain.

That makes sense, says Thomas Webster, associate professor of engineering at Brown University, because healthy neurons emit proteins that attract stem cells away from diseased, inactive areas. What’s needed is an “anchor” to keep stem cells fixed to the damaged areas, where they can then differentiate into working neurons, he says.

Webster and his collaborators in South Korea found a possible anchor in carbon nanotubes: tiny, highly conductive carbon fibers that not only act as scaffolds, helping stem cells stay rooted to diseased areas, but also seem to play an active role in turning stem cells into neurons.

Just how this works isn’t clear, but the researchers say their initial results could someday be engineered into a stem cell delivery device for stroke therapy. Webster presented the team’s findings at the American Chemical Society meeting this month in San Francisco.

Prior to this experiment, Webster had been experimenting with the properties of carbon nanotubes as possible neural implant material. Since nanotubes are highly conductive, they’re an ideal template for transmitting electrical signals to neurons. In 2004, Webster was able to stimulate neurons to grow multiple nerve endings along carbon nanotubes. The study attracted the attention of South Korean stroke researchers, who proposed a collaboration: Why not use carbon nanotubes as a template for adult stem cells to grow into neurons? Taking it one step further, the team injected this nano-cocktail directly into the stroke-damaged brain regions of rats.

In order to determine how well the two therapies work together, the team compared the effects of injections of both stem cells and nanotubes with control groups injected with only adult stem cells or carbon nanotubes. After one and three weeks, researchers sacrificed the rats and examined the diseased areas of their brains. In rats who had received only adult stem cells, the cells tended to stray to healthier regions of the brain. But rats given both nanotubes and cells showed new neural growth in stroke-damaged brain regions in as little as a week…….
Read More

Kavli Institute for Bionano Science and Technology established

Gift will support the exploration of life and biology at the nanoscale level

The Kavli Foundation and Harvard University have agreed to establish the Kavli Institute for Bionano Science and Technology (KIBST). The endowment from the Kavli Foundation will help to boost the University’s research efforts at the interfaces of biology, engineering, and nanoscale science. In particular, the gift will fund postdoctoral research fellows and support a lectureship series dedicated to “nano-” or small-scale science.

A “nanometer” is one-billionth of a meter, about a 100,000 times smaller than the diameter of the average human hair. Nanoscience offers scientists a way to get a close-up view of life’s building blocks – near-atomic-resolution images that help to determine the structure and function of proteins and even to follow the dynamics of individual molecules. Likewise, advances in manipulating nanoscale matter and materials are likely to lead to tiny machines that could deliver medicine or detect viruses.

“Fred Kavli’s gift on behalf of his foundation is a wonderful commitment to both the basic and applied sciences,” said Harvard’s interim President Derek Bok. “It will allow Harvard to build an even stronger presence in this exciting and emerging field.”

“Some of the most fascinating scientific research today is being done at the nanoscale, the realm of atoms and molecules,” said business leader and philanthropist Fred Kavli, founder of the Kavli Foundation. “I expect that the Harvard institute will contribute significantly to our knowledge of nanoscale processes, and help to harness them for the benefit of humanity.”

George Whitesides, Woodford L. and Ann A. Flowers University Professor, and David Weitz, Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and of Applied Physics, will serve as the founding directors for the KIBST. The institute, which is expected to reside in either the future Laboratory for Integrated Sciences and Engineering or Northwest buildings, will complement Harvard’s existing hubs dedicated to small-scale science: the Center for Nanoscale Systems (CNS), the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC), the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSEC), and the newly formed Initiative in Quantum Science and Engineering (IQSE).

“The KIBST will seek to develop a deeper understanding of the functioning of life and biology at the nanoscale level by developing new tools and probes that marry microfabrication and microfluidics with high-resolution imaging,” said Whitesides. “Our goals are to use such new techniques to probe the behavior of single molecules, cells, tissue, and organs; to gain a deeper understanding of the essential relationship between structure and function that controls all biology; and to combine structural and functional studies from the scale of single molecules to the scale of tissues and whole organs.”

The Harvard Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences (DEAS), with almost half of its faculty having some interest in biology-related questions and with its increasingly strong ties to the Harvard Medical School, will play a large role in shaping the direction of the institute. In addition, participants in the KIBST will span various departments in Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences – such as Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Physics, and Statistics – and include researchers from broader science initiatives such as those in neuroscience, genomics, and the Rowland Institute.

“While there are a number of faculty already engaged in research on various aspects of bionano science and technology, the establishment of the Kavli Institute will help to further integrate these activities by providing an umbrella institution,” said Venkatesh “Venky” Narayanamurti, dean of engineering and applied sciences. “Investing at the interfaces of fields is critical for sustaining continued advances across areas in science and engineering. Future innovations might range from new types of imaging devices to smart drug delivery systems to novel materials.”

Co-directors Whitesides and Weitz expect the KIBST’s initial efforts to be focused on applying advances from the physical sciences, particularly at the nanoscale level, to the study of important questions in the life sciences. One area of considerable interest involves using microfluidic techniques (the precise control and manipulation of extremely small volumes of fluids) to better understand biological problems at the level of cells and below.

“The Kavli Institute for Bionano Science and Technology is an important addition to the expanding network of Kavli institutes,” said David Auston, president of the Kavli Foundation. “We expect it will play a key role in advancing the frontiers of science in this emerging field where biology, physics, chemistry, and materials science intersect.”

About the Kavli Foundation

Dedicated to the advancement of science for the benefit of humanity, the Kavli Foundation supports scientific research, honors scientific achievement, and promotes public understanding of scientists and their work through an international program of research institutes, prizes, professorships, and symposia in the fields of astrophysics, nanoscience, and neuroscience. Established in 2000, its headquarters are in Oxnard, Calif.
Link to Source

Nanofibers for disease detection

Sept. 11, 2006
CU biodegradable wipe would quickly detect biohazards, from avian flu to E. coli
By Susan Lang

Detecting bacteria, viruses and other dangerous substances in hospitals, airplanes and other commonly contaminated places could soon be as easy as wiping a napkin or paper towel across a surface.
Margaret Frey and Jamie Mullally examine a nanofiber fabric
University Photography
Jamie Mullally ‘07, right, a Cornell Presidential Research Scholar, and Margaret Frey, assistant professor of textiles and apparel, examine a nonwoven nanofiber fabric on aluminum foil backing. Mullally will complete an honors thesis on the biorecognition fabrics in spring ‘07. Copyright © Cornell University

“It’s very inexpensive, it wouldn’t require that someone be highly trained to use it, and it could be activated for whatever you want to find,” said Margaret Frey, the Lois and Mel Tukman Assistant Professor of Fiber Science and Apparel Design at Cornell University. “So if you’re working in a meat-packing plant, for instance, you could swipe it across some hamburger and quickly and easily detect E. coli bacteria.” She reported on the research Sept. 11 at the American Chemical Society’s national meeting.

Once fully developed, the biodegradable absorbent wipe would contain nanofibers containing antibodies to numerous biohazards and chemicals and would signal by changing color or through another effect when the antibodies attached to their targets. Users would simply wipe the napkin across a surface; if a biohazard were detected, the surface could be disinfected and retested with another napkin to be sure it was no longer contaminated…..
Link to Source

Should We Make Cyborg Soldiers?

TEchnology Review
Tuesday, September 26, 2006

A group of ethicists is getting $250,000 to ask how much we should use nanotechnology to enhance humans.

By Kevin Bullis

Should we implant future nanotech-enabled computers and actuators into soldiers to make them more effective? If nanotech can help kids do better in school, are parents obligated to provide them with it? Does it make a difference if these enhancements are implanted, rather than just worn outside the body?

Patrick Lin, director of The Nanoethics Group, James Moor at Dartmouth University, and Fritz Allhoff at Western Michigan University have been given a quarter-million dollars, in the form of a pair of grants from the National Science Foundation, to try sorting out the answers to these kinds of questions.

In a press release, Lin said, “Today, human enhancement may mean steroids or Viagra or cosmetic surgeries. But with the accelerating pace of technology, some of the more fantastic scenarios may arrive sooner than people think.”

The Nanoethics Group has previously considered subjects such as the potential environmental and health impacts of nanotech.

I’m personally looking forward to the report, especially its list of cool, hypothetical human-enhancement technologies. (U.S. cyclists are probably looking forward to it, too.)

NBICS and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

My new biweekly column
Link to Source

Report:Nanotech Rx Medical applications of Nano-scale technologies: What Impact on Marginalized communities?

Link to Source

Issue: Medical applications of nano-scale technologies have the potential to revolutionize healthcare by delivering powerful tools for diagnosing and treating disease at the molecular level. But the current zeal for nano-enabled
medicines could divert scarce medical R&D funds away from essential health services and direct resources away from non-medical aspects of community health and wellbeing. Although nanomedicine is being touted as a solution to pressing health needs in the global South, it is being driven from the North and is designed primarily for wealthy markets. Using nano-scale technologies, the pharmaceutical industry’s ultimate goal is to make every person a patient and every patient a paying customer by “medicating” social ills with human performance enhancement (HyPE) drugs and devices. Nanoenabled HyPEs could usher in an era of two-tiered humans – Homo sapiens and Homo sapiens 2.0.

Market: As of mid-2006, 130 nanotech-based drugs and delivery systems and 125 devices or diagnostic tests are in preclinical, clinical or commercial
development. The combined market for nanoenabled medicine (drug delivery, therapeutics and diagnostics) will jump from just over $1 billion in 2005 to almost $10 billion in 2010 and the US National Science Foundation predicts
that nanotechnology will produce half of the pharmaceutical industry product line by 2015. Nanomedicine will help big pharma extend its exclusive monopoly patents on existing drug compounds and on older, under-performing drugs. Analysts suggest that nanotech-enabled medicine will increase profitability and discourage competition.

Impact: Nanomedicine may have its greatest impact in the realm of “human performance enhancement” (HyPE). Nanomedicine in combination with other new technologies will make it theoretically possible to alter the structure,
function and capabilities of human bodies and brains. In the near future, nano-enabled HyPE technologies will erase distinctions between “therapy” and “enhancement” and could change, quite literally, the definition of what it means to be healthy or human.

Reality check: Ironically, crucial questions remain about the health and environmental impacts of nanomaterials that are being used to develop nanomedicines. The nascent field of “nanotoxicology” is awash with uncertainty. Despite the fact that nano-scale products have already been commercialized (including nanomedicines), no government in the world has
developed regulations that address basic nanoscale safety issues.

Policy: Can OECD donors who have failed to deliver promised mosquito netting to malariastricken countries and who have managed to provide only one condom per adult male per annum to combat HIV/AIDS in the global
South really claim that hefty investment in new nanomedicines will pay off for poor countries? Governments urgently need broad, participatory societal and scientific, ethical, cultural, socioeconomic and environmental risk assessment to evaluate nanomedicine. Policies must be guided by the concerns of civil society and social movements, including disability rights and women’s organizations. To keep pace with technological change, an intergovernmental
framework is needed to monitor and assess the introduction of new technologies. At its next meeting in 2007, the World Health Assembly should undertake a full analysis of nanomedicine within this wider social health context.