In their Medical Products industry section, Accenture analysts Roland Hengerer and Martin Illsley describe what we can expect from nanotech for medicine: “To give just a sense of the possibilities, scientists and engineers are experimenting with ways to ‘nanostructure’ matter in such a way as to create industrial materials that are 100 times stronger than… Continue reading Accenture on nanotech for medicine
From Newswire Today: Raj Bawa, a former patent examiner and now biotech consultant and Adjunct Assistant Professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, writes in the journal Nanomedicine on his concerns about the growing nanotech “patent thicket” and its negative impact on innovation: “According to Dr. Raj Bawa, author of a recent paper titled ‘Will the nanomedicine… Continue reading Former patent examiner concerned about nanotech patent thicket
There are few goals that more of us share than that of losing weight, now that the problem of obesity is spreading (sorry) far beyond the US. NutraIngredients.com brings us news of a new nanoscale product for which the manufacturer claims to have scientific evidence of efficacy in weight loss: “AquaNova has developed a new… Continue reading Nanotech finds killer app: weight loss…maybe
From Live Science, a summary of a recent paper in PNAS: “Scientists partially restored the vision in blinded hamsters by plugging gaps in their injured brains with a synthetic substance that allowed brain cells to reconnect with one another, a new study reports. “If it can be applied to humans, the microscopic material could one… Continue reading MIT: Nanotech repairs brain damage in hamsters
Closing out our week here at Nanodot on a cheery note, some good news about carbon nanotubes, brought to us by Michael Freemantle of C&E News, regarding research done by a UK/France/Italy team: “Carbon Nanotubes Pass Safety Test Functionalized carbon nanotubes are rapidly cleared from blood, excreted in urine “A new study could allay some… Continue reading Carbon nanotubes pass a key safety test
As part of the EC-funded Nano2Life program, Aharon Hauptman and Yair Sharanhaupt of the Interdisciplinary Center for Technology Analysis and Forecasting (ICTAF) at Tel-Aviv University have written a 39-page report titled “Envisioned Developments in Nanobiotechnology” based on a survey of 139 experts from 30 countries. The 50% median date estimate from “experts and knowledgeable” for… Continue reading Time estimates for nano developments 2008-2021
From the International Journal of Surgery, an editorial on Nanotechnology, nanomedicine and nanosurgery by Robert A. Freitas, Jr. It reviews Feynman’s vision, today’s microrobotic surgical devices, and projects advanced medical nanodevices: “We envision biocompatible surgical nanorobots that can find and eliminate isolated cancerous cells, remove microvascular obstructions and recondition vascular endothelial cells, perform ‘noninvasive’ tissue… Continue reading Nanosurgery journal article by Freitas
From Dennis O’Brien of the Baltimore Sun: “The Johns Hopkins University is starting a graduate program aimed at training a new breed of scientist and engineer – the nanotechnologist. The school has won a $1 million grant to design a program and begin training doctoral students in nanomedicine, an emerging field that treats diseases on… Continue reading Nanotechnology for Biology and Medicine at Johns Hopkins
Prof. Alan Goldstein, who debated Ron Bailey on nanoethics at the Foresight Vision Weekend, writes on the effect of nanomedicine on medical privacy in Salon: “And by the way, the proliferation of unique molecular identifiers will make medical privacy an impossibility because, ultimately, these types of data cannot be encrypted. The medium is the message.… Continue reading Medical privacy: lack thereof
Not everyone is a big fan of the United Nations or UNESCO, but the wording of their declarations has impact, and we can expect this year’s bioethics declaration (PDF format) to have an effect on later nanoethics documents. Here’s a clause that may come into play on the question of human enhancement: “The autonomy of… Continue reading Bioethics declaration may affect Nanoethics
