Sunday, August 22: Completing studies at Clemson U. Institute for Environmental Nanotoxicology. Shown below are photos of Dr. David S. Arney (left) feeding daphnia gold nanoparticles synthesized on day 1, and daphnia (right) excreting Dr. Arney’s gold nanoparticles after a subsequent feeding of algae. Photos taken with Dr. Arney’s cell phone camera. Dr. Arney is Technical Manager, 3M Corporate Research Materials Lab / Nanotechnology and Inorganics Cluster
Environmental Effects of Nanoparticles and Nanomaterials: 2010
Engineered nanoparticles and nanomaterials offer many potential socio – economic, health and environmental benefits as a result of novel properties and behavior that materials can exhibit when manufactured at the nanoscale. While the production of nanomaterials is undergoing exponential growth, their biological effects and environmental fate and behavior are relatively unknown.
Nano 2010 will provide a venue for presentation and discussion of current research on these issues. The interdisciplinary mix of environmental scientists, toxicologists, material scientists, and engineers should provide for a robust discussion in a creative atmosphere. This meeting is the fifth annual international meeting on this topic following the success of previous meetings held in the United Kingdom and, most recently, Nano 2009 held in Vienna.
I am enjoying the “Nanomaterials in the Enviroment” pre-conference. It is a great balance of lecture and lab experience. Still looking for a picture from yesterday!
Clusters of heated, magnetic nanoparticles targeted to cell membranes can remotely control ion channels, neurons and even animal behavior, according to a paper published by University at Buffalo physicists in Nature Nanotechnology.
The research could have broad application, potentially resulting in innovative cancer treatments that remotely manipulate selected proteins or cells in specific tissues, or improved diabetes therapies that remotely stimulate pancreatic cells to release insulin. Rest at http://www.buffalo.edu/news/11518
Imagine being able to drop a toothpick on the head of one particular person standing among 100,000 people in a sports stadium. It sounds impossible, yet this degree of precision at the cellular level has been demonstrated by researchers affiliated with The Johns Hopkins University Institute for NanoBioTechnology. Their study was published online in June in Nature Nanotechnology.
The team used precise electrical fields as “tweezers” to guide and place gold nanowires, each about one-two hundredth the size of a cell, on predetermined spots, each on a single cell. Molecules coating the surfaces of the nanowires then triggered a biochemical cascade of actions only in the cell where the wire touched, without affecting other cells nearby. The researchers say this technique could lead to better ways of studying individual cells or even cell parts, and eventually could produce novel methods of delivering medication. Rest at JHU
Roche and IBM are collaborating on the development of a DNA Transistor that may become the coolest development in “bionano” so far.
Celebrate DNA Day! Go to http://www.genome.gov/DNADay/ and look at the many resources they have available so we can all be better informed. We live in a KnowledgeEconomy so remember – the more knowledge you have, the better your “economy” will be in the long run.
Friday, May 14, 2010
9:00 am – 5:00 pm, California NanoSystems Institute – Art | Sci Gallery and Lab
Students from Biotech and Art honors class at UCLA will exhibit their final work along with their peers from Parsons/New School in New York. The event takes form in presentations, performances and art installations, all responding to how we are changing our bodies, the food we consume, the animals we breed, and the environment we inhabit. Exhibition runs through June 7. Contact UCLA Art | Sci
(310) 794-2118 artscicenter@gmail.com
Cells rely on a range of signalling systems to communicate with each other and to control their own internal workings. Scientists from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Hamburg, Germany, have now found a way to hack into a vital communications system, raising the possibility of developing new drugs to tackle disorders like neurodegeneration, cancer and cardiovascular disease. In a study published today in Science Signaling, they have pieced together the first snapshot of what two of the system’s components look like while interacting.
Rest at EMBL