Nanoscience is Out of the Bottle
Despite the naysayers, optimism abounds in the worlds of enhanced
By Jeffrey M. Perkel
Don't look now, but the nanotech revolution is already here. It began as
a collection of curiosities: nano-enabled sunscreens, tennis racquets,
fishing rods, and stain-resistant pants. And more are coming.
Nanotech supporters say the technology will benefit every facet of
society, from energy to electronics, healthcare to telecommunications.
"Nanotechnology will be woven into the fabric of science and technology
in a very broad way," predicts Terry Michalske, director, Center for
Integrated Nanotechnologies, Sandia National Laboratories in
Albuquerque, N. Mex. The National Science Foundation estimates that
nanotechnology will create a $1 trillion (US) worldwide market by 2015,
and governments worldwide are staking their claims. The US Congress has
appropriated $2.36 billion over three years for nanotech R&D, while the
European Union's Sixth Framework Programme for Research and
Technological Development has earmarked ¤1.3 billion between 2002 and
2006. All told, public and private concerns will pour some $3 billion
into nanotech this year, according to The Nanotech Report 2003, an
investment overview compiled by the venture capital firm, Lux Capital,
of New York. Some of that money will find its way into life science
labs, where it will fund research in diagnostics and biosensing, tissue
repair and regeneration, and therapeutics.
Read the rest at The Scientist.com
http://www.the-scientist.com/yr2003/jul/feature_030728.html
New Dimensions in Confocal Microscopy
PerkinElmer's new UltraVIEW RS microscope produces real-time images in
six dimensions
A protein's function depends on its movement inside a cell and
interactions with other proteins and biological structures. Biologists
who want to watch proteins working in living cells frequently turn to
confocal microscopy. "Confocal microscopy is critical for modern cell
biology and physiology," says Michael Nathanson of the Yale University
School of Medicine. "Without exaggeration, it has revolutionized both of
these fields, because it has allowed intracell-ular structures to be
localized and intracellular events to be monitored in live cells that we
have never been able to observe previously." Biologists can now observe
more cellular detail than ever with the UltraVIEW RS, a new confocal
microscope from Boston-based PerkinElmer Life and Analytical Sciences.
http://www.the-scientist.com/yr2003/jul/tools_030728.html
Comment:
Could the nano-technologists could make use of the microscope? Or was
the microscope developed from nano-technology tools?
--
Kind Regards,
Robert Karl Stonjek.
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