Report Explores Nanotechnology's Future

A new report summarizes discussions among over 50 scientists, engineers, ethicists, policymakers, and other experts, as well as information gathered in follow-up interviews and from specially prepared background papers about the long-term potential of nanotechnology.

Controlling the properties and behavior of matter at the smallest scale--in effect, domesticating atoms--can help to overcome some of the world's biggest challenges, concluded the report on how diverse experts view the future of nanotechnology. Written by science writer Karen F. Schmidt, the report examines several compelling opportunities for significant, widespread benefit, focusing on nanotechnology's ability to address the energy crisis, the need for better medical treatments, and the demand for clean water.

The report is the product of a forecasting and awareness-raising activity sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF; Arlington, VA, USA), U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH; Bethesda, MD, USA), and the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (Washington, DC, USA), which is an initiative of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (Washington, DC, USA) and The Pew Charitable Trusts (Washington, DC, USA).

Nanotechnology is still developing, with the potential to deliver a range of benefits today and in the future. Most first-generation nanomedicines, according to the report, are reformulations of existing drugs, usually modified to enable new methods of delivery inside the body. Experts predict the creation of novel nanostructures that could serve as new kinds of drugs for treating cancer, Parkinson's, and cardiovascular disease.

Researchers also are working toward engineered nanomaterials for use as artificial tissues that will replace diseased kidneys and livers, and even repair nerve damage. Nanotechnology can be used very effectively to extract critical information about the inception of the disease process at the level of the molecule and the atom, and as such, it presents us with a huge horizon of exploration, NIH director Elias Zerhouni observed at the workshop.

Relevant to nearly every industry, nanotechnology is considered a platform technology, the report stated, because it readily merges and converges with other technologies and could change how we do just about everything. The report singles out advances in three underpinning technical areas--research tools, information management, and assembly and manufacturing--as fundamental to progress across the entire spectrum of nanotechnology research and development needs.


Related Links:
National Science Foundation
National Institutes of Health
Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies