Category: Nanodot

from the so-you-want-to-be-a-nanotechnologist dept.
Arizona State University is looking for students in engineering, physical science and life science to join a Graduate Research Training Program in Biomolecular Nanotechnology. Students will work on cross-disciplinary projects, but will receive their Ph.D. from one of several participating departments, to which they will apply at the time of applying to the program.

from the first-there-was-Tang-then-there-was-nanomedicine dept.
Gina Miller writes "Sally Pobojewski of the University of Michigan Health System reports U-M scientists to develop nanosensors for astronauts 7/9/02. Quote: 'Along with space suits, freeze-dried food and barf bags, tomorrow's astronauts may travel with nanomolecular devices inside their white blood cells to detect early signs of damage from dangerous radiation or infection. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is investing $2 million to develop this 'Star Trek' technology at the University of Michigan Medical School's Center for Biologic Nanotechnology. The three-year research grant is the largest the Medical School has ever received from NASA, according to James R. Baker, Jr., M.D., who will direct the project' The goal is to monitor infections and the radiation that provokes illness in the astronauts during space travel with devices that could be administered through the skin. UM researchers are also developing nanosensors to detect pre-malignant and cancerous cellular changes in the body funded as ongoing nanotech research by the National Cancer Institute."

On the same topic, Saturngraphix writes "The contemplation of cell monitering for astronauts has been discussed. A rather token 2 million has been set aside for nanosensors (actually, its quite a large sum for the grant but small in the overall picture). The purpose is mainly to track radiation exposure in the astronaut. Here is the link
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/07/02071 1080818.htm
Cheers"

from the new-molecular-tricks-up-the-sleeve dept.
Christine Peterson writes "Fluid forces within the body help invasive bacteria (a University of Washington news release): Another lovely example of one of nature's molecular machines, a mechanism that clamps a bacterium to the surface it's on in high winds (metaphorically)."

from the special-discounts-for-Foresight-members dept.
xenijardin writes "Hi, Nanodot.

from the yes-we-do-know-something dept.
In Maybe we're all just too dumb to be kept on ice, Boston Herald columnist Margery Eagan stops to consider, with a mixture of sympathy and skepticism, what sort of people choose cryonic suspension for their "final arrangements," and why. With apparent awe at his accomplishments in several fields, she quotes an unidentified professor "M & M" whose identity will be easily guessed by most readers of Nanodot. M & M is quoted as saying cryonics is for people "with real goals," and "I've always wondered why people are so happy about dying. We need longevity because we don't live long enough to understand things very well."

from the not-yet-a-tri-corder dept.
Gina Miller writes "The Chicago Sun Times Nanotech leading to diagnoses by handheld reports that Northwestern University's Institute for Nanotechnology in collaboration with Nanosphere Inc. are in the midst of developing a hand held device based on nanoparticles, that could give instant diagnosis via bodily fluids. The device is based on nanoparticles that exibit color which along with genetic markers of DNA could together turn diagnosis into color coding detection. The chip that will go on the inside of the handheld, is being developed by Nanosphere Inc. The article also discusses another company, NanoInk and how their work with dip-pen nanolithography could pertain to the color coding aspect by allowing the chip to sample specific sequences in the DNA that the gold particles have color-coded."

The New York Times has an extensive article ("Even for the Last .400 Hitter, Cryonics Is the Longest Shot", by M. Janofsky, 9 July 2002) on the controversy sparked by the cryonic suspension of baseball great Ted Williams at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation facility in Arizona:

Sent here by his son, Williams, the Boston Red Sox slugger who died last week at 83, has become the 50th — and by far the most famous — "patient" at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation, which preserves bodies in the hope that breakthroughs in medical science will someday make it possible to resuscitate them.

The article notes: "All of this has elevated the profile of Alcor and its president and chief executive, Dr. Jerry B. Lemler. Since the weekend, when reporters indicated that Williams's body was being sent here, the phones have rung incessantly and the Alcor Web site, www.alcor.org, has been clogged with visitors, said Dr. Lemler, a lifelong Yankees fan from New Rochelle, N.Y."

"This has raised public awareness about cryonics and about Alcor," Dr. Lemler said. "We're under scrutiny like never before, and we welcome it. We were anxious for so many years to be able to state our philosophies, our goals, our convictions, as well as our prices and our disclaimers."

Gina Miller writes "AsiaBizTech reports: Singapore Backs Nanotechnology Business . Singapore's government is looking to move forward with nanotechnology promotion that would impliment disk storage and biological fields by cooperating with overseas bodies such as Japan. Although their budget is smaller than the U.S. and Japan, today it stands at S$65 million, larger than all previous nanotech budgets. In January of 2002, the National University of Singapore Nanoscience & Nanotechnology Initiative (NUSNNI) was established. Since that time Singapore has set up the Institute of Bioengineering, began began joint research with a U.S. venture, SurroMed Inc., in nanobiology and expected to announce further venture projects."

Gina Miller writes "The Gainesville Sun.com has an article: UF team thinking small for treatments . The Sun medical staff writer, reports that the University of Florida are developing "nanopharmaceuticals" and believe these drug-binding molecules to have great potential for drug transport to even the tiniest capillaries in the human body. The work is currently focused on drug overdose situations, in which these molecules could easily bind to the invader drug to reduce toxic effects. Dr. Donn Dennis, professor of anesthesiology and medical director of the research project states "Let's say you have a specific type of cancer cell in the bloodstream and want to get a chemotherapeutic agent to attack it. This technology has the potential to deliver that drug only to the inside of the cells that are cancerous. You would avoid all the side effects of the cancer drugs, which can make every organ in the body sick." Dennis says about nanotechnology "It has major implications not only in medicine, but in food production, energy production, and other fundamental problems that we face as the world's population continues to increase.""

JohnFaith writes "High Lift Systems will be sponsoring a conference in Seattle on implementing a carbon tether space elevator: http://www.confcon.com/sp_elev_02/sp_elev_02.html. There's also a story in the Seattle Times: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/13 4489679_spaceelevator08m.html. This type of application has been mentioned in various nanotech books, so it will be interesting to see if the conference will mention molecular machines as a way to build these structures."