Nanomaterials in food and agriculture: The big issue of small matter for organic food and farming

Nanotechnology is the study of very small matter, of materials where one dimension is less than 100 nanometres. Surveys reveal that consumers are generally ignorant of nanotechnology, are concerned of its risks versus benefits, expect labelling of products incorporating nanotechnology, and a big issue for respondents is particularly the use of nanotechnology in food. Organic standards of Australia, Canada, Demeter-International and the UK’s Soil Association exclude nanomaterials, however a general nanotechnology exclusion across the organics sector is lacking

Nanotechnology: The Next Challenge for Organics

Nanotechnology is the fast growing science of the ultra small; it is creating engineered particles in the size range 1 to 100 nanometres. At this size, materials exhibit novel behaviours. Nanotechnology is a rapidly expanding multibillion dollar industry, with research being heavily promoted by governments, and especially the US. Nanoscale materials are already incorporated into more than 580 consumer products, including food, packaging, cosmetics, clothing and paint. Nanotechnology has been cited as the foundation of a new “advanced agriculture”. This technology is advancing without nano-specific regulation and without labelling while, at the same time, public confidence in government regulatory agencies, and in the safety of the food supply, is declining. There is an opportunity, perhaps an imperative, for the organic community to take the initiative to develop standards to exclude engineered nanoparticles from organic products, just as GMOs have been excluded previously

Nanotechnology Oversight: An Agenda for the New Administration

Identifies how current laws can be applied or modified to provide needed oversight of nanotechnology and materials for public health and environmental protection. Calls for more funding for risk research, coordinated regulation, and public involvement

Micro and nanotechnology commercialization: balance between exploration and exploitation

Innovative materials, components, and systems based on micro and nanotechnologies are recognized as promising growth innovators. The coming years the commercialization of micro and nanotechnology will be extended, but in order to commercialize micro and nanotechnology successfully, besides exploration a parallel focus should be aimed at exploitation. This paper presents in a brief and non-exhaustive manor a theoretical introduction and two company introductions related to exploitation and exploration focus embedded in the innovation development process to commercialize customer-oriented applications. A balanced approach between exploration and exploitation within organizations business, technological, and scientific domain could sharpen micro and nanotechnology companies into sustainable competitive market-driven enterprises.

Nanomaterials and their applications

The word nano takes its meaning from the Greek word "nanos" which means dwarf. Nanoparticles are materials ranging in size between 1 and 100 nanometers. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter. Nanotechnology is an interdisciplinary field that researches the physical, chemical and biological structures of materials with dimensions of one billionth and deals with their usage areas. Nanomaterials are the cornerstones of nanotechnology and they possess unique optical, magnetic and electrical properties in this dimension. What makes nanotechnology so interesting is that materials behave differently from the macro world in this dimension. Power / weight ratio, conductivity, optical and magnetic properties change significantly as we move from macro dimension to nanosize. In this study, after giving general information about nanomaterials, nanotechnology processes, imaging techniques of nanomaterials, carbon nanotubes, nanocomposites, nanotechnology in nature and various nanotechnology applications have been investigated

Incorporating Concepts of Nanotechnology into the Materials Science and Engineering Classroom and Laboratory

The National Science Foundation-supported Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) on Nanostructured Materials and Interfaces at the University of Wisconsin – Madison has an extensive and highly successful education and outreach effort. One theme of this effort is the development of instructional materials based on cutting-edge research in nanoscale science and engineering. Nanotechnology examples, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs), shape memory alloys, amorphous metals, and ferrofluids, illustrate interdisciplinary research that provides connections among materials science, chemistry, physics, and engineering. They also highlight the tools of nanotechnology, such as scanning probe microscopy, electron microscopy, self-assembly, x-ray diffraction, and chemical vapor deposition, associated with the preparation and characterization of nanostructured materials. These and other nanotechnology concepts are illustrated with video demonstrations in a web-based resource called the Nanoworld Cineplex, which contains movies of experiments and demonstrations that can be brought into the classroom. Numerous experiments are also available in the Nanotechnology Lab Manual, which can be used as either a virtual laboratory or as a web-based video lab manual. These resources for using nanotechnology to teach fundamental materials science and engineering principles are available at

Bionanomedicine: A “Panacea” In Medicine?

Recent advances in nanotechnology, biotechnology, bioinformatics, and materials science have prompted novel developments in the field of nanomedicine. Enhancements in the theranostics, computational information, and management of diseases/disorders are desperately required. It may now be conceivable to accomplish checked improvements in both of these areas utilising nanomedicine. This scientific and concise review concentrates on the fundamentals and potential of nanomedicine, particularly nanoparticles and their advantages, nanoparticles for siRNA conveyance, nanopores, nanodots, nanotheragnostics, nanodrugs and targeting mechanisms, and aptamer nanomedicine. The combination of various scientific fields is quickening these improvements, and these interdisciplinary endeavours to have significant progressively outstretching influences on different fields of research. The capacities of nanomedicine are immense, and nanotechnology could give medicine a completely new standpoint

Nanotechnology and Its Applications

Nanotechnology is the creation of materials and devices by controlling of matter at the levels of atoms, molecules, and supramolecular (nanoscale) structures. It is the use of very small particles of materials to create new large scale materials. In the present paper we give an idea about nanotechnology and its applications in the different fields