If you've read the Michael Crichton best-selling book, "Prey," in which a research lab creates self-replicating microscopic robots that turn against its creators, you probably view nanotechnology as a mysterious predator waiting to wreak havoc on an unsuspecting society. In this fictitious version, nanotechnology destroys. In the real world, scientist are developing applications based on micro molecules that do indeed have the potential to change the way we live-but for the better.
Nanotechnology, in practical terms, is the ability to work with matter at a nanoscale-measured in the length of approximately one-to-100 nanometers (a nanometer being one billionth of a meter)-which changes the fundamental properties of matter. According to a report from New York-based Deloitte & Touche LLP, a core principle of nanotechnology is that matter often exhibits very different properties when it is considered on the granular, as opposed to bulk, scale. For biomedical applications, this quantum effect opens the door to a vast array of new opportunities.
In medical and life sciences circles, current nanotechnology experiments are focusing on diagnostic imaging, drug detection, cell tracking and early disease diagnosis, just to name a few. Much of this work, however, is still in the early stages of development, with clinical trials of avant-garde nano-based applications just now emerging and many still a year or two away.
Once sorted out, this tiny technology will have a big impact on not just the medical community, but just about any industry that is hoping to be able to build more feature-rich products that, in time, will cost must less to manufacture. There are already examples of tennis balls being made with nanoparticles that allow the ball to last longer-therefore the manufacturer can charge more for it. Textile companies are incorporating nano-based stain-resistant coatings on clothes, and automotive suppliers are strengthening the running boards in sport-utility vehicles with nano-size elements. And then there are new classes of super fast computer chips ready to be born using nanotechnology. Collectively, this adds up to a huge emerging market.
There are industry predictions from the likes of the National Science Foundation and the NanoBusiness Alliance that the nanotech market will reach $1 trillion within the next decade. And there are definitely a lot of venture capital and government grants being thrown at the market. According to Venture Analytics, the worldwide nanotech investment topped $3.2 billion in 2003. But until the technology is proven, and people are comfortable with it-which is probably 10 years from now-the value and human benefits of nanotechnology will likely take a backseat to Crichton's nanobot hysteria.
"The first thing people need to do is sort out fact from fiction," says Frank Yang, director of business development at Industrial Science & Technology Network (ISTN). "The term nanotechnology has been over-hyped by some who don't have a good grasp of what it is. Working with matter at the molecular level engineers unique properties that can be superior and create things that can't be done with current technology."
For instance, ISTN (Springfield, VA), a company founded by Yang's father, Arthur, in 1997, is currently developing a composite drug delivery system for treating peptic ulcers. The company is using a nanoparticle combination that controls the drug release rate more effectively than the current method. And the method can be applied to many things. Aside from drug delivery applications, ISTN is taking its nanocomposite technology into other areas.
For instance, ISTN's Chemically Surface-Modified Gels (CSMG) selectively remove heavy metals such as silver, gold, palladium, platinum, mercury, cadmium and lead from water using a proprietary nanopore reactive adsorbent structure. There are industrial uses, such as treating wastewater at large manufacturing plants, but the potential of this technology to detect and remove poisonous substances from drinking water is gaining recognition now that we live in a world where bio-terrorism threats are real and have the potential to impact millions, if not billions, of individuals around the globe.
Some companies are working with similar nanocrystal technologies, or "quantum dots," that are incorporated into tablets, capsules, liquid and powders. Obviously, anything that enters the human body draws concern from the masses, but Yang takes a pragmatic approach when it comes to alarmists. Once it gets into biomedicine, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has to regulate it, he explains. "So people don't have too much to worry about. It's a matter of being responsible." Nanotechnology developers, Yang assures, are working to enhance the quality of life, not degrade it.
MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGHS
It's not a cure for cancer, but nanotechnology techniques offer a way for doctors to detect this life-threatening disease in its early stages. Quantum dots are semiconductor nanocrystals that fluoresce when excited by a light source, emitting bright colors that can identify and track properties and processes in biological applications.
"Nanotechnology is an enabling technology that makes existing applications work better or more efficiently," explains Girish Solanki, industry manager for Technical Insights at New York-based Frost & Sullivan. "For instance, when we talk about nanotechnology and drug delivery, it is going at specific sites in the body that are not currently accessible by traditional drugs," according to Solanki. "Since they can go that far, it can deliver the active ingredient more efficiently, taking a lesser amount of the drug and delivering it to the place where needed, which is the tissue."
Solanki describes the delivery method as being nanotubes, which are mesh-like networks of tubular structures that can be applied to nanobiotechnology-or even electronics (but that's another story, see milestone timeline below) and carbon buckminsterfullerenes, otherwise known as "buckyballs," that carry the active ingredient.
Because the nanocarrier is so small in size, it can detect cancerous tissue before it becomes obvious using existing technology, Solanki explains. It's this kind of much-needed medical breakthrough that makes nanotechnology so popular in the life sciences. And soon, of the 30 to 40 nanotech start-ups, real products will be generally available.
In July, Evident Technologies (Troy, NY) announced it has begun commercial production of its biotinylated quantum dot fluorophores, which the company calls Biotin EviFluor. The Biotin EviFluors offer advantages over traditional fluors and dyes in that they are capable of producing a wider range of colors, brighter emission and increased stability, according to company officials.
Similarly, St. Louis-based Kereos Inc. and Bristol-Myers Squibb Medical Imaging (Billerica, MA) announced a collaborative effort earlier this year for the development and commercialization of molecular imaging agents designed to detect cardiovascular diseases and cancer. And Quantum Dot Corp. (Hayward, CA) uses its luminescent Qdot nanocrystals in applications that include in-vitro diagnostic testing and medical imaging. Quantum Dot actually already sells its technology worldwide, company officials say, and research is beginning to uncover the potential nanocrystals have to change the future of medicine in many different fields.
In a study released earlier this year by MIT (Cambridge, MA), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (Boston) and Brigham and Women's Hospital (Boston), the researchers showed a new non-invasive biopsy technique that is the first step in determining whether cancer has spread to other parts of the body. The technique uses near infra-red quantum dots, developed in the MIT laboratory of Professsor Moungi Bawendi, a founding member of Quantum Dot Corp.'s Scientific Advisory Board. The study describes how the quantum dots were injected into live pigs and followed visually to the lymph system just beneath the skin. The imaging technique allowed surgeons to clearly see the target lymph nodes without cutting animal's skin.
INFLECTION POINT?
The medical opportunity is enormous, as is the potential of nanotechnology to change manufacturing in almost every industry. Still, even with all of these positive developments, the nanobots depicted in Crichton's "Prey" story will prevail in people's thoughts for the foreseeable future. As a result, the companies investing in this cutting-edge technology must be thoughtful and careful as they progress.
"The ethical and environmental issues will impact the way nanotechnology will proceed," notes Richard Shanley, a partner at Deloitte & Touche. "We are at an inflection point with a breakthrough technology. But scientists are ahead of society."