Setting the nanotech research agenda

Center for Nanotechnology in Society University of California, Santa Barbara www.cns.ucsb.edu WEEKLY CLIPS January 14 - 28, 2008 Weekly Clips from CNS-UCSB are now available online: http://www.cns.ucsb.edu/clips/ January 15, 2008 Setting the nanotech research agenda By Andrew Maynard In December 2003, President George W Bush signed the Twenty-first Century Nanotechnology Research & Development Act, establishing a framework for enabling what some have described as "the next industrial revolution." Four years on, the act is up for reauthorization As legislators grapple with how the nanotechnology landscape has changed in the intervening years, they face the complex task of continuing to ensure U.S leadership in the development of nanotechnologies that are successful, sustainable, and above all, safe …Following the 2003 act, the federal government established two Centers for Nanotechnology in Society academic centers to explore the nano-social interface These centers one at Arizona State University, the other at the University of California Santa Barbara have begun the long process of mapping out what issues nanotechnology raises, and the dynamics of how people respond to and engage in new nanotech developments This capacity to observe the social integration of a new technology firsthand is a unique experiment in itself, and is providing new opportunities to develop an effective interplay between citizens and science As researchers at Arizona State University are discovering, this interplay is as much about helping scientists consider a broader set of values in their work, as it is about enabling citizens to make informed decisions Both of these centers are in their infancy, and there is a long way to go before the academic becomes the practical, leading to widespread and informed engagement in the social side of making nanotechnology work Now more than ever, the future of nanotechnology hangs on understanding the potential risks, managing them effectively, and engaging stakeholders in the decision-making process But this progress will not happen spontaneously The country needs a strategy that ensures the right safety research is funded and that the results are translated into sound policy decisions; a plan for informing and engaging people on the future course of the technology; and the foresight to see what nanotechnology could become, and how to get there http://www.thebulletin.org/columns/andrew-maynard/20080115.html January 23, 2008 FDA Beginning to Address Nanotechnology Regulatory Concerns Groundbreaking Technology Presents Vexing Issues, FDLI Insighter Article Concludes WASHINGTON Hundreds of nanotech products, including foods, medicines and medical devices, now have reached the market, and their number will grow exponentially in the years ahead But the main regulating body, the Food and Drug Administration, is just beginning to address the unique issues presented by this groundbreaking technology, according to an Insighter article, written by Beryl Lieff Benderly, posted on the Food and Drug Law Institute's website, http://www.fdli.org In a July 2007 report, a special FDA nanotechnology task force concluded that, while the agency has the capability to meet these challenges, it needs to take specific action soon to get ready However, according to the Insighter article, FDA has not made public its plans for responding to the task force report "We are beginning the planning for the priority activities defined in the task force report," FDA spokesperson Crystal Rice told FDLI http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl? ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/01-23-2008/0004741385&EDATE= January 28, 2008 Nanotechnology risks assessed by the World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum, whose 2008 Annual Meeting ended on Sunday, has founded the Global Risk Network in 2004 in response to concern that the international community and the global business community were not yet able to respond adequately to a changing global risk landscape The Program has moved forward in partnership with Citigroup, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Merrill Lynch, Swiss Re and the Center for Risk Management and Decision Processes, and Wharton School In an increasingly complex and interconnected global environment, risks can no longer be contained within geographical or system boundaries No one company, industry or state can successfully understand and mitigate global risks The World Economic Forum, with numerous links to business networks, policy-makers and government, NGOs and think-tanks, is in a unique position to advance new thinking on global risks, to generate risk mitigation measures and to integrate current knowledge on global risks Over the past few years, the Global Risk Network team has released an annual report This years' report "Global Risks 2008" was published two weeks ago In it, as in previous years, nanotechnology was characterized as a global core risk The report is based on input from a network of more than 100 top business leaders, decision-makers, scientists and other leading academics convened throughout 2007 as part of the World Economic Forum’s Global Risk Network The topics identified in the report were at the core of the agenda for this year's Annual Meeting Although nanotechnology has been included in the "Core Risks" group, it ranks well below the majority of risks both on the 'severity' and 'likelihood' scales The major focus of the Global Risks 2008 report is on four emerging issues which will impact the world economy and society in the decade ahead: systemic financial risk; food security; supply chain vulnerability; and energy http://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=4246.php January 23, 2008 The Strategic Risk of Nanotechnology There has been much talk and hand-wringing about health and environmental risks associated with nanotechnology, but fewer discussions focus on what is termed "strategic risk." One definition of strategic risk, from a recent Ernst & Young report, is "[a] risk that could cause severe financial loss or fundamentally undermine the competitive position of a company" (1) Regulators and NGOs pay attention to health risks, but strategic risks are the bread-and-butter of investors, insurers, Wall Street analysts, and corporate boards The insurance sector has been very clear that it views nanotechnology as a looming issue Lloyd's Emerging Risks Team just issued a report on nano that noted that "due to the potential impact to the insurance industry if something were to go wrong, nanotechnology features very highly in Lloyd's top emerging risks" (2) Similarly, Zurich Insurance's Canadian office ranked nano in the top tier of emerging global risks (along with climate change and deteriorating infrastructure) (3) All strategic risks are not created equal; they are affected by large macrotrends (such as geopolitics) and vary based on industry sector and the operating strategies of individual firms Strategic risk is also composed of both real and perceived components Since perceptions can drive investments, grow markets, or kill stock options, strategic risk analysis must consider public attitudes, media coverage, and consumer whims, which are often fluid and difficult to quantify Since more and more sectors are now using nanotechnology in their products, it is worth beginning to sort out the strategic risks But how? We could fall back on the work of the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who stipulated that, for many phenomena, 20 percent of the people or activities accounts for 80 percent of the results Most of the risk associated with driving can be linked to errors made by a small number of male, adolescent drivers; most of the risk associated with developing lung cancer can be associated with smoking, even in moderate amounts; etc So Pareto's Principle would suggest that a few sectors account for a bulk of the risk associated with nanotechnology (or a few firms, or a few products) But which ones? http://www.nanotech-now.com/columns/?article=162 January 17, 2008 Marketing Nanotechnology Products to Consumers - Why will they buy? The consumer marketplace is becoming rich with nanotechnologybased or enhanced products In March 2006, the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, a Washington, D.C initiative associated with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, released an impressive list of nanotechnology consumer products that could be found in the marketplace from sunscreens to water repellant and stainresistant clothing to gum, car wax, sporting equipment and nanoparticle-laden cosmetics They all suggest significant strides from the scientific perspective - but from the consumers' point of view the products are simply new or different versions of products in an already crowded marketplace Marketing these products successfully to today's consumers is not like a field of dreams You may build it, but in reality they may not come The single point of all innovation, and what's missing for the many consumer-oriented nanotechnology-based or enhanced products, is the creation of value for the consumer Unfortunately, the general public at large is either unaware of nanotechnology or doesn't care http://www.nanotech-now.com/columns/?article=159 January 15, 2008 Blog: No Nanoparticles Were Killed Writing This Post The Soil Association, Britain’s largest certifier of organic products, issued a press release Tuesday proclaiming itself to be the “first organization in the world to ban nanoparticles.” On closer inspection, that boiled down to the group saying it would not allow its organic label to be used on any product containing synthetic particles with a mean size of less than 200 nanometers or a “basic” size — whatever that means — of less than 125 nanometers The Soil Association conceded this is a largely theoretical precautionary stand for now since no food products sold in Britain are currently advertised as containing such nano-additives The handful of cosmetics that contain them, such as clear sunscreens that use nanoscale titanium dioxide particles to shield the skin from ultra-violet sunlight, not claim to be organic But, the organization said, initiative “goes to the core of the organic movement’s values of protecting human health.” The Soil Association’s concern, like that of many nanotechnology critics, is that a variety of research studies have suggested ways that some man-made nanoparticles might be harmful The Soil Association expressed frustration that even though the British Government had issued a position paper three years ago urging a cautious approach, no regulations have been imposed to limit the use of nanoparticles in commerce or to require labeling on products using such particles http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/no-nanoparticles-were-killedwriting-this-post/ January 18, 2007 Nanotechnology and toxicity: the growing need for in vivo study Toxicology is an interdisciplinary research field concerned with the study of the adverse effects of chemicals on living organisms It applies knowledge, methods and techniques from such fields as chemistry, physics, material sciences, pharmacy, medicine and molecular biology Toxicology established itself in the last 25-30 years as a testing science in the course of efforts of industrial nations to regulate toxic chemicals Particle toxicology, as a subdiscipline, developed in the context of lung disease arising from inhalation exposure to dust particles of workers in the mining industry It later expanded to the area of air pollution With the rapid development of nanotechnology applications and materials, nanotoxicology is emerging as an important subdiscipline of nanotechnology as well as toxicology Most, if not all, toxicological studies on nanoparticles rely on current methods, practices and terminology as gained and applied in the analysis of micro- and ultrafine particles and mineral fibers Together with recent studies on nanoparticles, this has provided an initial basis for evaluating the primary issues in a risk assessment framework for nanomaterials However, current toxicological knowledge about engineered nanoparticles is extremely limited and traditional toxicology does not allow for a complete understanding of the size, shape, composition and aggregation-dependent interactions of nanostructures with biological systems An understanding of the relationship between the physical and chemical properties of nanostructures and their in vivo behavior would provide a basis for assessing toxic response and more importantly could lead to predictive models for assessing toxicity http://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=4132.php January 24, 2008 From zero to hero: the renaissance of nanotechnology Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (DTT) has published its 2008 Technology Predictions The study examines 10 emerging trends sure to have a major influence on the technology sector The report, which is available as a free download here, includes recommendations from the DTT Technology, Media & Telecommunications industry group on how to take advantage of these emerging trends One of the ten trends deals with nanotechnology DTT writes: The public image of nanotechnology – the manipulation of matter at the atomic or molecular scale – has recently become tainted This is despite mass market use of nanotechnology-enabled products, from smoother sun cream to portable MP3 players and faster processors The impact of nanotechnology on new or improved products and services has already been significant and its potential remains considerable Matter behaves in fundamentally different ways on the nanometer scale Previously inert materials can be transformed into catalysts; solids can become liquids, even at room temperature; insulators can become conductors According to advocates, nanotechnology could even be the basis for the next industrial revolution http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=4202.php January 25, 2008 What Did We Learn? As enjoyable as it can be to construct future histories and stories of what the coming years might hold, the goal of a scenario planning process is to help people make better decisions by giving them a sense of the implications of different choices Throughout 2007, the Center for Responsible Nanotechnology worked on assembling a set of scenarios depicting a variety of near-term futures in which molecular manufacturing — a nanoscale technology allowing atomically-precise, exponential production of physical objects — becomes a reality The eight different scenarios we completed [1] offer a range of viewpoints about how such an advent of molecular manufacturing might occur As we've noted elsewhere [2], we chose a near-term setting not because we thought it would be the most likely, but because we thought it would be both the most disruptive to the status quo and the most amenable to a foresight process (i.e., not already subject to too many other changes to make useful scenarios impossible) Nonetheless, we believe that these near-term scenarios provide lessons applicable to longer-range possibilities as well While the individual scenarios trigger their own particular conclusions, several insights arise from looking at the set of scenarios as a whole http://www.nanotech-now.com/columns/?article=165 January 15, 2008 Carothers: A bottom-up approach to nanotechnology safety Cambridge – You know that stain-repellant necktie you saw at the store this holiday season? Well that very tie — which uses nanotechnology to enable that stain-resistant power – may be causing your hometown to take measures to require a warning label along with the sales receipt Within the next month, a panel of advisers to the Department of Public Health in Cambridge will deliver a set of recommendations to the City Council on how to deal with nanotechnology firms operating inside the city’s boundaries But Cambridge isn’t the first city to address uncertainties surrounding nanotech About a year ago the city of Berkeley, Calif., put in place the world’s first ordinance requiring nanotech firms to disclose their activities Berkeley’s mayor explained the absence of federal action on nanotechnology forced the city’s hand: “If the federal government isn’t going to anything, it is up to us to step up.” http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/news/opinions/x1295935520 January 2008 Good Governance: Evolution of the Nanoscale Materials Stewardship Program Governance issues are seldom the subject of wide consensus, and the question of how best the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) should obtain needed information and data on the human health and environmental implications of nanoscale materials is no exception EPA has considered the issue carefully and believes, with good reason, that a voluntary approach makes the most sense at this time Not everyone agrees, however, and some urge EPA to exercise its statutory authority under the Toxic Substances Control Act to mandate the submission of information and data, and to so quickly This article discusses the origins and current status of EPA’s voluntary Nanoscale Materials Stewardship Program (“NMSP”), outlines the key issues EPA confronted in developing the Program, and discusses the reasons why it is critically important for nanotechnology stakeholders to participate in the Program early and robustly While stakeholders may not agree on what is the best way for EPA to obtain information on nanoscale materials, there is broad consensus that NMSP participation is critically important to maintain the public trust and confidence in this emerging technology, to provide EPA with needed information and data, and to demonstrate that potentially more burdensome rulemaking initiatives are not needed to achieve these goals http://www.nanolabweb.com/index.cfm/action/main.default.default/CFI D/1409050/CFTOKEN/51395353/index.html January 28, 2008 EPA takes first step in filling nanotech information gaps Additional action urgently needed to ensure confidence in safety WASHINGTON, DC—The U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published today in the Federal Register its plan for the Nanoscale Materials Stewardship Program under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) The plan takes a positive first step by offering industry, nongovernmental organizations and other groups the opportunity to voluntarily submit safety data on engineered nanoscale materials According to Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN) Director David Rejeski, “The information obtained under the stewardship program could help government officials develop a better understanding of the risks and benefits posed by the novel materials, but this voluntary program provides virtually no incentives for industry participation Swift action is needed now to ensure public and market confidence in the safety of these materials EPA officials first announced in June 2005 the agency’s intention to launch the stewardship program, and at this point – almost three years later – the need for action is that much greater.” …In its announcement of the voluntary program, EPA also notes that it will not change its policy on what constitutes a new chemical under TSCA That policy, put forward last year, says the agency will not consider size when deciding when a chemical is a new chemical under TSCA – even though size is a determining factor in what constitutes a nanomaterial If a substance is determined to be new under TSCA, it can result in extensive first-time testing to determine the risks posed by the substance http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-01/poen-etf012808.php January 28, 2008 EPA's voluntary program for nanomaterials still too little, too late The U.S Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) long-awaited voluntary reporting program for engineered nanomaterials will not deliver critically needed information and serves only to postpone key decisions on how best to mitigate nanotechnology’s potential risks to human health and the environment, according to Environmental Defense The group harshly criticized the EPA’s new Nanoscale Materials Stewardship Program, which is described in a notice published in today’s Federal Register “EPA is simply ‘kicking the can down the road’ by shunning approaches that could have delivered needed information faster, and by opting instead to pursue an open-ended approach with no end in sight,” said Richard A Denison, Ph.D., Environmental Defense Senior Scientist Nanomaterials are already showing up in hundreds of consumer products, ranging from paints to cosmetics to stain-resistant treatments for clothing Initial studies show that some of them may be able to enter the body and even individual cells and, once there, cause damage http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=4251.php January 26, 2008 Blog: Synthetic biology and nanotechnology The popular computer game “SimLife” allows users to create and manipulate virtual people But what are the chances of us one day being able to the same with real organisms: building new life-forms out of basic chemicals, so “SimLife” becomes “SynLife”? This week’s announcement by J Craig Venter’s team (and the associated paper in Science) that they have successfully synthesized the complete genome of the bacterium Mycoplasma genitalium is an important step towards achieving what is becoming known as “synthetic biology” By constructing complete DNA sequences from scratch, the door is being opened to transforming common laboratory chemicals into new living organisms; that are engineered with specific purposes in mind And perhaps not surprisingly, this manipulation of DNA at the nanoscale is increasingly being seen as part of the “nanotechnology revolution” But is synthetic biology really nanotechnology? …If you consider nanotechnology to be the intentional manipulation of matter at the nanoscale and the exploitation of resulting material properties, then synthetic biology certainly begins to sound like nanotech In contrast to “natural” biology, synthetic biology aims to construct with intent the DNA code of brand new life forms, which will quite literally have functionality that has been engineered-in at a nanometer scale And the long-term vision of synthetic biology is to create DNA sequences that will lead to new proteins, precisely engineered to undertake specific tasks If this is not nanotechnology, I don’t know what is http://community.safenano.org/blogs/andrew_maynard/archive/2008/01 /26/synthetic-biology-and-nanotechnology.aspx January 15, 2008 Nanotechnology Roadmap Unveiled The Ministry of Science and Technology said Tuesday that South Korea will try to become one of the three leading nations in the field of nanotechnology by 2020 A nationwide roadmap for the research and development of the related technologies has been drawn up by 83 scientists and other experts over the past two years, the ministry said The roadmap expects that Korean companies and institutions using various nanotechnology will earn about $260 billion a year by around 2015 and $500 billion in 2020, about 20 percent of the global market http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/tech/tech_view.asp? newsIdx=17333&categoryCode=129 January 28, 2008 On the impacts of nanotechnology Barry Castleman, an environmental consultant and expert on workplace health hazards, tells Arnab Pratim Dutta about nanotechnology’s impacts We hear about nanotechnology everywhere but we seldom hear of its impacts Is it good or bad? We are just beginning to understand the nature and the extent of adverse effects that nanomaterials can cause Nanomaterials, as the name suggests, are so small that they can easily pass through the cell wall They are also capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier—a membrane in brain capillaries that normally doesn’t allow any toxic particle in the bloodstream to enter into the brain Hence they represent a particular level of threat But we are yet to know whether the technology is good or bad I expect both This will depend on its applications: whether its use as solar collectors and in medical applications will come up first or its indiscriminate commercial use in the cosmetics sector and household appliances will unleash some kind of tragedy http://www.downtoearth.org.in/interview1.asp? foldername=20080131&filename=news&sec_id=14&sid=15 January 21, 2008 ‘Nanotech evolved over billions of years’ Nanotechnology might have become the buzzword today but few are aware that it was in use in ancient times for producing a number of products Of late, scientists have not only rediscovered it, they have also reinvented it to keep in pace with changing times, claims American chemist and Nobel Laureate, Robert Floyd Curl Jr of Rice University Curl is known for his contributions to microwave and laser spectroscopy and the discovery of the first fullerene—the third known form of pure carbon (after diamond and graphite) in 1985 Curl’s initial work was on small clusters of atoms of semiconductors, such as germanium and silicon For his contributions, Curl shared the 1996 Nobel Prize for chemistry with Smalley and Harold Kroto Later work on the discovery by other scientists developed fullerene chemistry, devoted to the use of fullerenes in the production of superconductors, industrial catalysts, and nanotubes Curl was in India recently to participate in the 95th Indian Science Congress in Visakhapatnam In an interview to Ashok B Sharma, he outlines the future prospects of nanoscience and nanotechnology Excerpts… http://www.financialexpress.com/news/-Nanotech-evolved-over-billionsof-years-/263815/ January 17, 2008 Russia's science minister sets $41 bln nanotechnology target Moscow - Russia's annual nanotechnology production must reach at least trillion rubles ($41 billion) by 2015, Russia's science and education minister said on Thursday Following a government session on nanotechnology development in Russia, Andrei Fursenko said the figure was attainable, if ambitious, and could be achieved if the industry received the necessary legal backing for its development, including a development program to run until 2015, as well as further financial support by the government The nanotechnology development program forecasts that Russia's annual output in the sector will reach 900 billion rubles by 2015, and the share of Russian nanotechnology produce in different sectors should be no less than 3% of the world hi-tech market http://en.rian.ru/science/20080117/97198688.html January 18, 2008 $36Bln Set Aside for Nanotechnology The Cabinet on Thursday gave the nod to ambitious measures aimed at boosting sales in the country's nanotechnology sector at least 130fold in the next seven years According to the plan, sales of materials and equipment based on nanotechnology will rise to 900 billion rubles, or about $36 billion, by 2015, the government said on its web site The total for last year was billion rubles Education and Science Minister Andrei Fursenko was even more ambitious, predicting after the Cabinet session that the sales would grow to trillion rubles The government's plan focuses on funding research and expanding the number of companies producing new materials and equipment commercially There are currently 75 Russian firms involved in the sector, including steelmaker Severstal http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2008/01/18/041.html January 26, 2008 Make India a significant player in nanotechnology: Kalam Hyderabad: Government and private sector should join hands and carry out focussed research to make India a significant player in nanotechnology, former President A P J Abdul Kalam said on Saturday "Only a few institutions are currently contributing towards advancement in nanotechnology in the country An action plan needs to be prepared to make India a significant player in the field," he said, addressing a conference at the National Institute of Technology at Warangal The country can make rapid strides if the government and industry joined hands as nanotechnology will be the central focus for many technologies to converge The next ten years will see nano technology playing the most dominant role in the global business environment, Kalam said http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200801262240.htm January 24, 2008 Big Plans for Tiny Science; Nanotechnology May Change Our Lives And We're Leading the Way IT IS set to revolutionise the treatment of cancer and many scientists believe it will even produce a cure, yet most people know very little about the world of nanotechnology From life-saving treatment to computer chips and lightweight tennis rackets the results of nano research are slowly becoming part of our daily lives And yesterday a new E100million global centre dedicated exclusively to nanotechnology opened in Dublin …The main hope for this would be with cancer The problem with treating cancer is that current drugs affect both healthy and sick cells In future the hope would be to use nano drugs to target the cancer cells only, he said That really would allow a patient to be treated and managed in a much more sensitive and creative way http://www.smalltimes.com/news/display_news_story.cfm? Section=WireNews&Category=HOME&NewsID=156535 January 17, 2008 Report highlights Ohio's nanotechnology strengths and growth According to a report published today by NorTech and the NanoNetwork, Ohio exhibits significant strengths in nanotechnology research, development, commercialization and entrepreneurship; and Northeast Ohio, in particular, is a leader in nanotech innovation Through better cross-pollination of Ohio's regions and sectors, the State has the potential to become an even greater national player in nanotechnology The report, entitled, "The Northeast Ohio Nanotechnology Report" is the result of a strategic planning exercise conducted by the NanoBusiness Alliance and funded by the Generation Foundation The study examined the nanotechnology landscape in Northeast Ohio and Ohio overall as compared to peer regions (Central Ohio, greater Chicago, Detroit/Ann Arbor and Pittsburgh) as well as other Midwest/neighboring states (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, and Pennsylvania) in the areas of research funding and publications, academic patents, the concentration of small to mid size nanotechnology companies, the nanotech-related activity of large technology corporations, venture capital investment, and workforce http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=4126.php The trademarks and logos identified in this publication are the property of their respective owners The views presented by the selection and arrangement of materials here not necessarily reflect those of the National Science Foundation or The Regents of the University of California To be removed from this email list, please reply to valerie@cns.ucsb.edu ... Network The topics identified in the report were at the core of the agenda for this year's Annual Meeting Although nanotechnology has been included in the "Core Risks" group, it ranks well below the. .. player in nanotechnology The report, entitled, "The Northeast Ohio Nanotechnology Report" is the result of a strategic planning exercise conducted by the NanoBusiness Alliance and funded by the Generation... of DNA at the nanoscale is increasingly being seen as part of the “nanotechnology revolution” But is synthetic biology really nanotechnology? …If you consider nanotechnology to be the intentional