News & Comment

Two nanoparticle-based vaccines close to obtaining approval by the US Food and Drug Administration could represent a giant step in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

After fourteen years of writing for Nature Nanotechnology, Chris Toumey reflects on the role of experts in Science and Technology Studies in his last contribution to the journal.

Although the idea of using nanomaterials for agriculture is promising, we must consider in detail how nanotechnology can provide advantages over standard tools.

Two studies on sub-micrometre plastic particles provide evidence of plastic accumulation in terrestrial plants.

In the face of the coronavirus pandemic, it is time for the nanotechnology community to shine and build on its experience with nanoscale materials and drug delivery to provide knowledge and tools for COVID-19 vaccine and therapeutics development.

Nano-formulating dexamethasone, and administering it via intravenous injection or inhalation, may help to improve anti-COVID-19 treatment efficacy by targeting the potent corticosteroid drug to hyper-activated immune cells, by potentiating its anti-oedema activity and by exploiting its anti-fibrotic effects.

Nanotechnology-based antimicrobial and antiviral formulations can prevent SARS-CoV-2 viral dissemination, and highly sensitive biosensors and detection platforms may contribute to the detection and diagnosis of COVID-19.

In reviewing a recent book, Chris Toumey reflects on the impact that social networks can have on the development of a number of technologies.

Data-centric computation and the scalability limits of current computing systems call for the developments of alternative to von Neumann architecture.

The efforts to develop electron lens systems that can achieve atomic resolution in transmission electron microscopy have been awarded the most prestigious accolade dedicated to nanoscience.

As the spread of SARS-CoV-2 has triggered worldwide closures of research labs and facilities, Kostas Kostarelos shares his views on what may be going wrong in the fight against COVID-19 and how the nanoscience community could and should contribute.

When the size of the vessel controls the outcome of a reaction.

The identification and isolation of individuals with COVID-19 can help to flatten the epidemic curve and win us time to wait for the vaccine development and production, and antiviral drug therapies.

Although we seem to understand how nanoscience can impact the environment, we seem to be far off using nanotechnology for environmental remediation, says Chris Toumey.

Chloroquine — an approved malaria drug — is known in nanomedicine research for the investigation of nanoparticle uptake in cells, and may have potential for the treatment of COVID-19.

The addition of carbon nanotubes to the SIN (‘Substitute It Now’) list has evoked reactions from nanomedicine and nanotoxicology researchers, who ask for a fairer and more recent research-based risk assessment of carbon nanotubes.