Nano-Vision

March 15, 2006

(via HealthDay News)

Scientists at MIT have restored the vision of brain-damaged hamsters using nanotechnology. They used the tiny particles to build a kind of scaffold so that brain cells could re-grow. One of the main controversies with nanotechnology is the great unknown regarding the effect of these tiny particles on the environment. The journal Science in February ran an overview article entitled “Toxic Potential of Materials at the Nanolevel.” The abstract:

Nanomaterials are engineered structures with at least one dimension of 100 nanometers or less. These materials are increasingly being used for commercial purposes such as fillers, opacifiers, catalysts, semiconductors, cosmetics, microelectronics, and drug carriers. Materials in this size range may approach the length scale at which some specific physical or chemical interactions with their environment can occur. As a result, their properties differ substantially from those bulk materials of the same composition, allowing them to perform exceptional feats of conductivity, reactivity, and optical sensitivity. Possible undesirable results of these capabilities are harmful interactions with biological systems and the environment, with the potential to generate toxicity. The establishment of principles and test procedures to ensure safe manufacture and use of nanomaterials in the marketplace is urgently required and achievable.

To that end, the EPA’s National Center for Environmental Research has awarded $5 million in grants to study the health and environmental effects of nano.

First, do no harm.