Sonia Arrison » nano

FDA opens dialogue on nanotechnology regulation

sonia — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 22:02:04 +0000

According to FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg:

Our goal is to regulate these products using the best possible science. Understanding nanotechnology remains a top priority within the agency’s regulatory science initiative and, in doing so, we will be prepared to usher science, public health, and FDA into a new, more innovative era.

House passes nanotech safety bill

sonia — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 00:47:05 +0000

According to cleanrooms online:

“The U.S. House of Representatives has passed H.R. 554, the National Nanotechnology Initiative Amendments Act of 2009, by voice vote. The bill is intended to strengthen and provide transparency in federal research efforts to understand the potential environmental, health, and safety risks of nanotechnology. It is identical to H.R. 5940, which passed the House in the 110th Congress.”

Here is an op-ed that Mike Honda wrote on the issue earlier this month.

Sea cucumbers and human brains

Sonia — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 14:51:00 +0000

What do these two things have in common? According to MIT’s Technology review, a new material inspired by sea cucumbers “switches rapidly between rigid and flexible states.” This is important because “such a material may be useful in the design of implantable electrodes able to record brain activity over long stretches of time, with minimal scarring compared with conventional electrodes.” This is a cool advance.

An equally cool new tech is electronic skin. Also from MIT’s Review:

A postdoctoral researcher at Princeton University, “fabricated thin gold strips on elastic rubber substrates that could be stretched like a rubber band without losing electrical conductivity. The Princeton group, led by electrical-engineering professor Sigurd Wagner, then used these strips as the foundation of the first stretchable integrated circuit.”

Nanoliquids — the Band-Aids of the future

Sonia — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 22:24:22 +0000

There’s a cool article in this month’s Discover Magazine on nanoliquid developed at MIT. According to the article, “The liquid is a solution of small protein pieces that assemble into nanoscale fibers on contact, creating a gel that stops the flow of blood without clotting or pressure. As the wound heals, the gel breaks down into amino acidsâ€”the building blocks of proteinsâ€”that can be taken up by nearby cells and used for tissue repair.”

This has huge implications for surgical procedures, not to mention the occasional bike scrape.