A new study, by researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology, United States, suggests that sunscreen ingredients may pose a cancer risk. Dr. Yinfa Ma, a professor of chemistry, found that zinc oxide – a common sunscreen ingredient – undergoes a chemical reaction when exposed to sunlight that may release unstable molecules known as free radicals. These free radicals can damage cells or the DNA contained within them, possibly increasing the risk of skin cancer. Moreover, Ma found that the longer zinc oxide is exposed to sunlight, the greater the potential damage to human cells. "Zinc oxide may generate free radicals when exposed to UV (ultraviolet) sunlight," Ma said, "and those free radicals can kill cells." Ma cautions that his research is still in the early stages, and people should not draw conclusions about the safety or dangers of sunscreens based on his preliminary research. "More extensive study is still needed," Ma said. "This is just the first step…I still would advise people to wear sunscreen. Sunscreen is better than no protection at all." His latest results will be published in the journal Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology.

A new invention, the Single Breath Disease Diagnostic Breathalyzer, uses ceramics nanotechnology to allow the public to screen themselves for everything from diabetes to lung cancer. The device, developed by Dr. Perena Gouma and her team at Stony Brook University, United States, with funding from the National Science Foundation, uses a sensor chip coated with tiny nanowires as the brain of the breathalyzer. "These nanowires enable the sensor to detect just a few molecules of the disease marker gas in a 'sea' of billions of molecules of other compounds that the breath consists of," Gouma explained. While the device is not yet available for purchase, the research team envisions that the final product will be under US$20. The low cost, says Gouma, has the potential to empower individuals to take care of their own health like never before. "People can get something over the counter and it's going to be a first response or first detection type of device. This is really a nanomedicine application that is affordable because it is based on inexpensive ceramic materials that can be mass produced at low cost," she said. Eventually, Gouma added, the nanowires could be rigged to detect infectious viruses and microbes such as Salmonella, E. coli, or even anthrax. "There will be so many other applications we haven't envisioned. It's very exciting; it's a whole new world," she said.

This article offers insights into how nanotechnology has the potential to change medicine – both in the research laboratory and the clinic – while also touching on some of the challenges and concerns surrounding this emerging science. It explores the topics of: manipulating DNA; nanobots and nanostars; nanofactories that make drugs in situ; and, nanofibers. While the potential of nanomedicine is huge, there are concerned parties who worry that not enough is being done to discover the toxicological consequences of this emerging science. Critics cite the size and exceptional mobility of nanoparticles, as well as their solubility and persistence. Additionally, the high surface area to mass ratio of nanoparticles makes them highly reactive, potentially triggering as yet unknown chemical reactions. The article concludes: “It would appear, therefore, whether actual or perceived, the potential risk that nanotechnology poses to human health must be investigated, and be seen to be investigated. Most nanomaterials, as the NCI [United States National Cancer Institute] suggests, will likely prove to be harmless. But when a technology advances rapidly, knowledge and communication about its safety needs to keep pace in order for it to benefit, especially if it is also to secure public confidence. We only have to look at what happened, and to some extent is still happening, with genetically modified food to see how that can go badly wrong.”

A new study, conducted by Rizwan Sarwar Bajwa, a research associate at the Preston Institute of Nanoscience and Technology in Islamabad, Pakistan, and his colleague Khwaja Yaldram, found that nanotechnology research in Pakistan, which had shown a trend of higher publication numbers over the last decade, has suffered from the country’s present financial crisis. Research publications in the field had grown from seven in 2000 to 542 papers in 2011 – a 29 percent annual growth rate. The study said the dramatic increase was due to heavy government spending on manpower training and procuring the latest equipment for laboratories working on nanotechnology research. "Unfortunately, the present financial crunch faced by the country could have a negative impact on the progress achieved so far," the study concluded. According to Bajwa, "The publication shows that despite availability of funding, the research and development institutes contributed very little in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology.” He added that unless developing countries such as Pakistan engage in nanoscience, they would end up as consumers of high-tech products from other countries. Pervez Hoodbhoy, a professor of physics at Quaid-e-Azam University, also in Pakistan, said that higher publication numbers are not a true indicator of progress in the field. "A better indicator is citations. But, if self-citations are removed the numbers will collapse. Another metric of progress could be the creation of nanodevices and their commercial production. In the absence of such steps, it is not clear what is being achieved by the mass production of papers." Bajwa said the lack of patents in Pakistan was due to a dearth of funds for research, which leads many scientists to confine themselves to teaching.

A researcher at Michigan Technological University, United States, has developed asphalt that could fight off cracks, rutting and potholes. Zhanping You, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, and his team, have tested adding two types of nanoclays to asphalt. His research suggests adding nanoclays to asphalt could make for safer, longer-lasting roadways. “Asphalt is now made from petroleum, so it’s very expensive,” said You. “As a result, a lot of people are looking at ways to make it more durable.” The team added 2-4 percent of nanoclay by weight to the asphalt. According to You, “It improved the viscosity significantly. That means it will provide better stiffness, which means that it won’t deform as much in hot weather or under heavy traffic.” The team hasn’t yet completed their testing, so they don’t know if the nanoclay will help asphalt resist cracking in cold weather or under heavy loads, although You added that it has always been their goal to develop new asphalt mixtures with those qualities. The lab is also testing how nano-silica and nano-composites will affect asphalt durability.

In this opinion piece, Diane Ackerman, writing in The New York Times, explores recent nanotechnology advances, but hones in on one recent “marvel of nanotechnology” that she says promises to revolutionize daily life. She says the marvel – a product with nanoparticles of silver that can coat both hard surfaces and soft – strikes her as “wickedly dangerous, though probably inevitable.” Ackerman writes: “You’d think the new nano-coating would offer a silver bullet, be a godsend to patients stricken with hospital-acquired sepsis and pneumonia, and to doctors fighting what has become a nightmare of antibiotic-resistant micro-organisms that can kill tens of thousands of people a year. It does, and it is. That’s the problem. It’s too effective. Most micro-organisms are harmless, many are beneficial, but some are absolutely essential for the environment and human life.” Bacteria, she says, were the first forms of life on the planet, and we owe them everything. But, she continues, “How tempting for nanotechnology companies, capitalizing on our fears and fetishes, to engineer superbly effective nanosilver microbe-killers, deodorants and sanitizers of all sorts for home and industry.” The writing, she adds, is on the wall, whether “it’s electric tuxedos for the prom or hospital chairs robed in pesticide jackets…And when it comes to the delicate balance of earth’s life forms, it may be a small, small world after all.”

Supratik Guha, an IBM researcher, says a new material that revolutionizes the field of electronics and changes society comes along about once in a generation. Guha says graphene and carbon nanotubes are the new materials that could have an enormous impact on our future. He writes: “No material since silicon (and perhaps steel) has seen such diverse possibilities, and few appear to be endowed with the attractive electronic, optical, and mechanical properties that graphene and nanotubes are reported to possess. This groundswell of good news is certainly part hype, but, most researchers feel that these materials will eventually lead us to a convergence of computing, sensing, communications, and consumer electronics.” Right now, however, Guha calls the materials “a rebel without a cause,” saying the materials are not to a point where we can precisely predict where they will be used. It offers a tremendous opportunity, he says, for the United States to establish dominance in these core technologies. The next phase of carbon material development will need significant additional investment, he writes, in order for the U.S. to retain its competitive advantage. “The United States faces economic hardship and there is no doubt that its financial deficits need to be addressed in order to remain competitive. But we also must recognize that austerity alone is not enough to drive continued U.S. economic competitiveness. As the government makes these decisions, we urge lawmakers to consider that this is the time to step up investing in the seeds of this technology. Carbon nanoelectronics could have the impact that silicon has had on us in the last century,” says Guha.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, both in the United States, have designed nanoparticles that can deliver high doses of antibiotics directly to bacteria. The goal of their work is to find a strategy to combat the increasing resistance of bacteria to existing drugs. The new approach would both mitigate the side effects of some antibiotics, while protecting the beneficial bacteria that normally live inside our bodies. The team’s antibiotic-carrying nanoparticles can switch their charge depending on their environment. Normally the nanoparticles have a slight negative charge, but when they encounter an infection site, the particles gain a positive charge, allowing them to bind to the bacteria and release their drug payload. The change in the nanoparticle’s charge is triggered by the slightly acidic environment surrounding the bacteria. The current version of nanoparticle releases its drug payload over one to two days. Aleks Radovic-Moreno, an MIT graduate student and lead author of a paper describing the particles in the journal ACS Nano, said, “You don’t want just a short burst of drug, because bacteria can recover once the drug is gone. You want an extended release of drug so that bacteria are constantly being hit with high quantities of drug until they’ve been eradicated.” The team hopes the high doses delivered by their particles could eventually help overcome bacterial resistance. “When bacteria are drug resistant, it doesn’t mean they stop responding, it means they respond but only at higher concentrations. And the reason you can’t achieve these clinically is because antibiotics are sometimes toxic, or they don’t stay at that site of infection long enough,” Radovic-Moreno said.

The 13th edition of Trends in Nanotechnology International Conference (TNT2012) will be held from September 10 to 14, 2012, in Madrid, Spain. The conference, which is a high-level scientific meeting, aims to present a broad range of current research in nanoscience and nanotechnology, as well as related policies and other kinds of initiatives. TNT events are, according to the sponsors, particularly effective at transmitting information and allowing workers in the field to establish contacts. The full program and registration information can be viewed on the conference website.

Researchers from the Institute for Watershed Science at Trent University, Canada, and colleagues from Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Environment Canada, are conducting the Lake Ecosystem Nanosilver (LENS) project to look at nanomaterials’ threat to aquatic ecosystems. The use of nanomaterials in consumer products has exploded over the last decade, raising questions about how such materials interact with cells and organic molecules, and how they impact organisms. Nanosilver is among the most widely used nanomaterial in consumer goods. There is a risk, as these products are used and disposed, that nanosilvers will travel through municipal water systems into lakes and rivers. Dr. Maggie Xenopoulos, one of the Trent researchers, said, "We have seen an exponential growth in the use of nanomaterials. However, questions of safety are not being asked." The research team is conducting a study at the Experimental Lakes Area in northwestern Ontario. The team will monitor changes in the lake’s ecosystem after the addition of nanosilver. Initial laboratory research has indicated that nanosilver can strongly affect aquatic organisms at the bottom of the food chain. "The Experimental Lakes Area is the only place in the world where we can study the effects of nanosilver at the whole ecosystem level," added Dr. Xenopoulos. "The LENS project is extremely important to help guide future policy." The LENS project, and its results, will help policy makers understand whether nanomaterials can be a threat to aquatic ecosystems, and whether regulatory action is required to control their release.