Nanotechnology  

Nanotechnology is the technology and science of extremely small things that are typically less than 100 nanometers (nm) long. A nanometer is 10-9 long or about as long as three atoms sitting side by side. The technologies being developed at nanoscales will have major impacts on our future.

Nanotechnology is the technology and science of extremely small things that are typically less than 100 nanometers (nm) long. A nanometer is 10-9 long or about as long as three atoms sitting side by side. Things that small have different properties than do larger things, and nanotechnology has many different possible applications:

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Treating cancer

Last year, scientists developed “nanocarriers” that can directly deliver cancer drugs to the patient’s tumor and thus reduce the damage to neighboring healthy cells. Some of them are so tiny they can slip through the walls of blood vessels on their way to the tumor.

Scientists are currently working on nanoparticles that will be able to recognize cancerous cells by their molecular structure. A variant nanoparticle called a nanoshell will be able to absorb light and then generate sufficient heat to kill the cancer cells.

Improving solar cells

Improving the efficiency of solar power has long been a challenge. Even today, a solar cell converts only about 20 percent of visible light—like that from the sun—into electricity.

Researchers at the Kyoto Institute announced in January 2017 that have built a “nano-sized” semiconductor with a narrower bandwidth concentrated on the shorter wavelengths that produce more heat and energy. The new semiconductor proved able to convert at least 40 percent of light into energy.

Veelo

Veelo is a class of nanotubes made by the company General Nano. The nanotubes are lightweight with conductive properties and can therefore be used in both airplanes and spacecraft. One type, called Veelo Blac, is described as “super-black” and can absorb over 99.6 percent of visible light. It can therefore absorb reflection and interference from light produced by stars, the moon and other sources. NASA will be using it on the mini-satellites or CubeSats that will be launched in 2018.

Wearable electronics

Wearable electronics like the Apple Watch aren’t just a fashion statement. They can be used as medical monitors, military GPS trackers and many other things. To fulfill their potential, wearable electronics need better energy sources, sensors and other devices—and those components have to be small. The various makers of wearable electronics are exploring the possibilities of using nanomaterials like silver nanowires graphene or carbon nanotubes.

Ultimate waterproofing

A company based in Britain called P2i has developed a nanotechnology called Aridion that can repel any liquid. It’s a polymer coating that can be sprayed on an object like a smartphone. If the smartphone gets wet, the liquid simply forms beads on its surface. Since the coating is less than 50 nm thick, the smartphone won’t look any different from an unprotected phone. The phone’s innards can also be sprayed and protected. Aridion was originally developed to protect soldiers’ uniforms from poisonous or corrosive chemicals.

By  Dixie Somers	Embed
Author Bio - Dixie is a freelance writer who loves to write about business, finance and self improvement. She lives in Arizona with her husband and three beautiful daughters.

 Dentistry  

Nanotechnology will impact nearly every aspect of our lives in the future, including how we care for and maintain our teeth.  New techniques using titanium dioxide nanotubes, for instance are making dental implants more reliable and safer.

F
or an adult, losing a tooth can be a traumatic event—especially when a replacement can cost thousands of dollars. Current technologies use a prosthesis such as a crown, denture, or bridge to replace a tooth. Unfortunately, the best procedure is implantation and isn't always successful. Surgery in patients who have gingivitis, tooth decay, or other infections often fails. When this happens, a second surgery must be scheduled to replace or remove the implant.

That's why orthopedic surgeons are always looking for new dental implant technologies. One of the most promising so far is nanotechnology. It could impact all aspects of the procedures involved, from guaranteeing the prerequisite health of the gums and adjacent teeth to the implant itself. Whether you need same day tooth implants in Mesa AZ, or any city for that matter, the following dental implant technologies will make it that much easier and pain free.

1) Titanium Dioxide Nanotubes

This is the new material that will result in the greatest procedural changes. Implants are routinely made from strong metals like titanium, and future implants will likely be made the same way—except with one key difference. Now, they'll be coated with a nanomaterial called titanium dioxide nanotubes.

Cortino Sukotjo, an assistant professor from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry, has been running tests with the nanomaterial for years, and is now partnering with Tolou Shokuhfar, a professor of mechanical engineering at Michigan Technological University.

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2) Fewer Complications

The pair of researchers found that implants coated with titanium dioxide nanotubes actually encouraged the growth of bone cells. More importantly, those bone cells adhere better to the nanotubes than traditional titanium. Consequently, patients who have needed a dental implant have a higher likelihood of keeping it in place and a lower likelihood of succumbing to costly infections.

3) Drug Delivery

If that weren't awesome enough, the nanomaterials could be used to slowly deliver drugs after surgery. Nanotubes are exactly what they sound like: small, microscopic, hollow tubes. Therefore, the nanotubes can be loaded with other materials. In this case, Shokuhfar and another scientist, Alexander Yarin from the University of Illinois at Chicago's Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, filled the nanotubes with an anti-inflammatory called sodium naproxen. The drug is released gradually, and could help reduce infection
even further.

4) Faster Healing

Because of the properties of the nanotube coating and the potential for a new drug delivery system, patients are sure to heal much faster than with traditional technologies. Yet another method of fighting infection was developed in tandem with the drug-loaded nanotubes. After all other methods were applied, the scientists teamed with Craig Friedrich from Michigan Tech to lace the nanotubes with silver nanoparticles.

Health supplements have screamed about the benefits of silver nanoparticles for years, and they are often purchased by health-conscious consumers avoiding antibiotics. These researchers acknowledge that the silver has antimicrobial properties which could prevent biofilms from covering the implant. This means that nanotechnology will reduce our dependence on antibiotics after a dental implant surgery.

5) More Durable

All of these methods result in a cleaner, healthier, more durable implant which could last much longer than traditional implants—but that's not all. The cost of these implants is greatly reduced, especially because there's a much lower chance of requiring a second surgery to replace or remove the first implant. Lastly, the titanium dioxide nanotubes are completely transparent. Paired with a popular, new type of all-white implant made from zirconia, it could leave patients feeling confident about their replacements.

Of course, this kind of nanotechnology won't stop here. In addition to revolutionizing dental implant surgeries, it could change the way we implant artificial hips, fight cancer, or personalize medicine to fight individual diseases which have been debilitating until now.

By Karleia Steiner

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 Nanotubes  

Nanotubes, developed from plant material have been created.  The new nanotubes may have applications in medicine, where carbon nanotube use may not be feasible.

Personalized medicine has taken another step closer to reality with the development of plant-derived nanotubes.

These lignin nanotubes – tiny structures several hundred times thinner than a human hair – hone in on specific tissues in the body and deliver their cargo, in this study's case a healthy gene to help override a dysfunctional copy. Nanotubes have many uses, such as delivering chemotherapy drugs directly to a tumor. As of now, chemotherapy is delivered to the entire system and often causes damage to healthy tissue. Using this direct-delivery method, chemotherapy can maximize its effectiveness on tumors while minimizing harm to healthy tissue.

Many labs are attempting to deliver genes using nanotubes from different materials – mainly carbon or short chains of amino acids – but these are the first nanotubes derived from plant material.

The findings were published in the February edition of Biomacromolecules.

Research into this method of gene delivery is in the very earliest stages. Labs are experimenting with cells cultured in petri dishes and mice.

In a living organism, the nanotubes would be introduced into the blood stream where they would begin their journey to the affected tissue. Equipped with a "homing" protein, the nanotubes target the desired cell type.

"There are all kinds of receptors on the outside of cells, like little zip codes. They define the different cell, tissue or organ types based on proteins that stick out on the outside of these cells," said Wilfred Vermerris, one of the University of Florida researchers involved in developing the nanotubes.

Plant-derived nanotubes may offer a safer, more sustainable alternative to their carbon counterparts.

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The homing protein on the nanotube finds a specific protein in a specific cell type and connects with it in a lock-and-key mechanism. Once the key is in the lock, the nanotube enters the cell and delivers the gene.

Some genetic diseases result in nonfunctioning proteins due to a faulty piece of DNA. These nanotubes provide the working copy of the DNA to act as a "satellite chromosome," according to Vermerris. The new gene does not supplant a dysfunctional gene; it simply provides the cell with a working blueprint for a protein, allowing the cell to carry on as though nothing were wrong. But patients would have to receive regular injections of the nanotubes in order for them to work.

Some researchers use disabled viruses in a similar fashion, but the body often recognizes these viral couriers as foreign invaders and destroys them before they can deliver their cargo. Carbon nanotubes also trigger the immune system to attack, but not as strongly as viruses, Vermerris said. He added that he and his team are hopeful that the body's familiarity with plant polymers might mean that their nanotubes may only trigger a minimal immune response.

Vermerris believes that his plant-derived nanotubes may offer a safer, more sustainable alternative to their carbon counterparts.

Carbon nanotubes are sharp and inflexible, according to Vermerris. "They can puncture cells and damage them that way." The plant nanotubes are softer and more flexible than carbon, which would allow them to pass through the circulatory system more easily.

Vermerris also stressed that researchers still don't know the long-term effects of carbon nanotubes in the body. "Are they being dumped by the body in urine or feces? Or do they stick around and start doing damage in the body?"

Vermerris and his team suspect that their plant-based nanotubes would degrade safely within the body, but that they have yet to confirm if that is the case. Vermerris's team will test their nanotubes on mice to assess their efficacy and safety. He added that he is confident his team will be able to make the plant-based tubes smaller if need be.

The nanotubes come from waste produced from processing plants for fuel. Vermerris said that the plant nanotubes are much cheaper than carbon nanotubes, which currently cost $500 per gram.

For now, though, plant-derived nanotubes are a promising new addition to the field of nanomedicine.



SOURCE  Inside Science

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