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Communicating the risks and benefits associated with nanotechnology to the general public is proving to be more subtle and complex than researchers might have expected.
A comparison between two recent national surveys among nanoscientists and the general public in the US shows that, in general, nanoscientists are more optimistic than the public about the potential benefits of nanotechnology. However, for some issues related to the environmental and long-term health impacts of nanotechnology, nanoscientists were significantly more concerned than the public.
Private investors have a lot to offer universities who are interested in developing and commercializing new technologies. Michael N. Helmus and Anil K. Rao describe how such partnerships can work in practice.
Experiments designed to pass the same DNA molecule through a solid-state nanopore many times will greatly improve the quality of single-molecule measurements.
The properties of materials reinforced by nanoparticles often fall far short of those predicted by theory, but now a layer-by-layer assembly approach offers a way in which nanocomposite materials could begin to realise their true potential.
Combining the optical properties of quantum dots with the ability of carbon nanotubes to carry pharmaceutical cargos could prove highly beneficial in the field of drug delivery.
Next-generation magnetic biosensors will be able to detect extremely low concentrations of proteins and other biomolecules in very small samples within just a few minutes.
In vitro nanomechanical studies have shown that cultured cancer cells are elastically softer than healthy ones, and new measurements on cells from cancer patients suggest that this mechanical signature may be a powerful way to detect cancer in the clinic.
