from the For-VC-wonks dept.
Red Herring Magazine will hold it's first Nanotechnology Briefing on 24 September 2001 at the The Fairmont Copley Plaza, Boston, MA.
Red Herring ran a special issue on nanotechnology in July 2001.
Read more for a list of speakers for the briefing.
from the mushrooming-regional-centers dept.
The University of New Mexico and the Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories announced on 7 August 2001 the creation of the New Mexico Nanoscience Alliance (NMNA). The alliance will be open to all New Mexico institutions with interests in nanoscience. Its purpose will be the advancement of nanoscience within New Mexico and it will provide a forum for establishing collaborations among all of the research efforts in the state.
Read more for additional details and related news about U.S. legislation to fund a Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies sponsored by New Mexico Senator Jeff Bingaman.
from the long-and-winding-road dept.
During the 1980s and early 90s, starburst dendrimers, a type of complex, tree-like spherical branching polymer molecules, seemed to offer a promising avenue toward nanoscale applications. Enthusiasm has been tempered, at least in part, by the expense and difficulty of synthesizing them. Now, one of the leading researchers in dendrimer chemistry, Dr. Donald A. Tomalia at Central Michigan University, is working with Starpharma, an Australian pharmaceuticals firm, to develop products using "dendrimer nanotechnology". According to a Starpharma press release from 6 August 2001, the company will invest up to US$2.18 million over the next three years in Dendritic Nanotechnologies Limited, a new company which will have its head office in Melbourne and a branch office and laboratory at Central Michigan University. Dr Tomalia and his team of dendritic polymer scientists will be employed by the new company
Additional backgroound on Dr. Tomalia and his work with dendrimers can be found in a lengthy article ("Dendrimer's dad thinks he's finally tamed the money-munching molecule", by Jayne Fried, 26 July 2001) on the SmallTimes website.
An Italian doctor and a U.S. researcher have announced that they intend implant cloned human embryos in 200 women volunteers within the next few months. This would be the first known attempt at human cloning. One of the researchers, Professor Severino Antinori of Rome, is scheduled to speak on 7 August 2001 at a daylong panel on Scientific and Medical Aspects of Human Cloning at the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC. Critics of the effort are said to be worried it may create a backlash against ongoing efforts to advance stem cell research in the United States, according to a report from United Press International.
from the progress-and-paranoia dept.
Pointing up some of the reasons why many researchers are excited about the prospect of using embryonic stem cells to produce different types of tissues — such as heart tissue to repair damaged hearts — two teams of scientists at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Israel have produced tissue cells derived from human embryonic stem cells.
One team of researchers has for the first time succeeded in growing precursors of heart cells from human embryonic stems cells, puting the researchers considerably closer to clinical application in humans. Their report appears in the August 2001 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. In a second study, another team demonstrated that human embryonic stem cells can produce insulin, a result that could signal an important step toward a cure for type 1 diabetes. Their research was published in the August 2001 issue of Diabetes.
Additional coverage can be found in this article from United Press International.
An interesting editorial commentary appeared in the Los Angeles Times on 29 July 2001: "Science is far ahead of the public debate, and scientists need to educate the public about what they are doing. Otherwise the public debate will be fueled by fear."
from the penny-wiseÖ? dept.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted on 31 July 2001 to ban human cloning and to prohibit the practice of cloning human embryos for medical research. The vote would ban cloning not only for reproduction but also for medical research. The measure passed by a wide margin, 265-to-162. The House also rejected a less restrictive measure that would have prohibited making babies by cloning while allowing research into "therapeutic cloning". The rhetoric of the debate was impassioned, and often based on religious or moral grounds, rather than scientific or medical issues:
"Cloning treats human embryos — the basic elements of life itself — as a simple raw material," House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said. "This exploitative, unholy technique is no better than medical strip mining."
Others said the bill would derail possibly vital medical breakthroughs. "This would stop ongoing studies to help people suffering from a whole litany of life-threatening diseases," House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, D-Mich., said
Coverage of the vote is available from UPI and the New York Times.
from the The-vision-thing dept.
The medical applications of nanotechnology will change the shape of medicine, said Dr. Carol Dahl, director of the Office of Technology and Industrial Relations at the U.S. National Cancer Institute, according to a report from United Press International ("Nanomedicine: The new frontier", by K. Samson, 23 July 2001). Dahl spoke during a special briefing, titled ìThe Promise of Nanotechnology: The Coming Revolution in Medicine,î presented at the National Health Council on 23 July 2001.
Read more for details and links to additional coverage of the event.
The Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs will present a panel discussion titled "Nanotech Today" on Thursday, 9 August 2001, at 6 pm.The event will be held on the Microsoft Campus in Mountain View, California. The panel will include:
* Jennifer Fonstadt, Partner, Draper Fisher Jurvetson
* Scott Mize, Chairman of the Advisory Board, Nanotechnology Opportunity Report
* Charles Ostman, Senior Fellow, Institute for Global Futures
* Moderator is John Gale, president of Taligo LLC.
More information and an online registration form is avilable at http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaID=15623 or the SVASE website. Cost for pre-registered attendees are $25 for SVASE members, $45 for nonmembers. Walk-in rates are an additional $10.
from the NT-design-tools dept.
Rob Bishop writes "nanoTITAN, Inc. is pleased to announce the first early access release of nanoML, a markup language for the description and interchange of nanodevices. nanoML includes the molecular components and structure of a nanodevice — as you might expect — but goes well beyond that to include information about the properties, interoperability, operational characteristics, display, safety, and legal status of nanodevices.
It is our hope that nanoML will accelerate development of molecular nanotechnology by providing a common language for researchers, engineers and other interested parties. Our commitment is to evolve nanoML consistent with the needs of the nanotechnology community and to move toward an open standard. We would greatly appreciate a review of our work so far by the knowledgeable readers of nanodot.
More information can be found at:
from the mushrooming-regional-NT-programs dept.
According to a press release issued by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on 12 July 2001, funding has been approved for two major nanoscience research initiatives at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York.
One set of studies will focus on understanding the nanoscale properties of catalysts, substances that initiate or speed up the rates of chemical reactions, with the goal of exploiting these properties to optimize chemical reactivity and selectivity. The second initiative will explore how electric charges move at the nanoscale. These studies could lead to advances in energy-conversion devices such as those that convert sunlight into electricity, and new "molecular electronics" for tinier, faster computer circuits.
Both programs will also develop and refine methods of nanofabrication to build improved materials atom by atom or molecule by molecule.
