Nanotechnology

A small factory at your disposal on your desk; a small robot that makes repairs inside the organs in your body; an antibacterial potion that seeks out sites of infection and kills infectious agents in minutes — these are a few of numerous products envisioned by nanotechnology scientists.

The term nanotechnology refers to “the engineering of functional systems at the molecular scale” and involves manipulation at the scale of 1 to 100 nanometers (1). A nanometer is one millonth of a millimeter and is used to measure atoms and molecules. Divide the width of a hair into 100 000 pieces and each piece would be about 1 nm wide. Materials at this scale have unusual physical, chemical, and biological properties that may differ from their behavior in bulk or as single atoms or molecules. Nanotechnologists plan to use these unique features of nanoscale material to address several problems in physics, medicine, computers and electronics, energy, and aerospace. Presently in the early phase of development, this technology is already being used to develop single task materials. As the system advances it will be used for structures designed for multitasking, then for systems that have thousands of interacting components, and on to integrated multi-level systems (2).

Nanotechnology is being referred to as the 5th technology revolution, after the steam engine in the late 1700s; steel, electricity and railways in the late 1800s; cars, chemicals and mass production in the early 1900s; and computers in the mid 1900s (3). It is suggested that the seat of global power was closely linked with each of these 4 revolutions: England; England, Germany and the USA; USA; Japan and the USA, respectively. Analysis of patent applications and publications has been used to assess the strengths of various countries in the emerging field of nanotechnology. In 2011, 53% of the patent applications came from the USA, 8% from South Korea, 7% from Japan, 3% from Canada, 3% from the UK, and 1% from Russia (3). The top company was the South Korean company Samsung, followed by IBM in the United States. Several universities, notably the University of California and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, are prominent as patent holders in this field.

Nanotechnology will likely affect every aspect of our living(2). The early wave of nanotechnology is making its presence felt in the computer and electronics field, particularly in the manufacture of chips for computers, tablets, and smart phones. Of particular interest to our profession is the potential impact on medicine. Major areas of medicine in which nanotechnology is making a difference and/or is expected to offer advantages include imaging, drug delivery, and treatment of infections and cancer. Images of tumors may be improved by the use of iron oxide nanoparticles designed to bind to tumor cells, leading to enhanced magnetic resonance images. Quantum dot nanoparticles have been developed, which can be bound to antibodies that target disease cells permitting precise location and early detection of disease as well as follow-up monitoring over time.

Nanoscience has developed drug delivery systems that allow improved precision in targeting, resulting in increased effectiveness, lower doses, and reduced toxicity. There is hope that nanoparticles will be part of the solution to the problem of antimicrobial resistant bacteria as systems are being developed to deliver antimicrobials that are released only at the sites of infection, permitting high local concentrations and prolonged exposure. Cancer treatment is an area of active development for nanotechnology. Already there are a number of chemotherapy drugs that are delivered through nanotechnology, resulting in reduced toxicity. The existing systems are considered to be passive. Systems that are being designed for cancer therapy are expected to be active assemblies that can enter tumor cells following intravenous administration and kill the cells after local activation by agents such as X-rays or infrared laser. Regenerative medicine looks forward to systems that will enter cells and repair them.

The potential developments in nanotechnology are mind-boggling and there are developments that cannot be imagined at present. However, some legitimate concerns have been raised. One of these is the sparsity of investigation of effects of nanoparticles on humans and the environment. Another is the animal testing that has been done so far and that will likely be done in the future.

Not surprisingly, research in nanotechnology is highly multi-disciplinary. Hopefully veterinary researchers will establish collaborations among themselves and with colleagues in the physical sciences to ensure that veterinary medicine benefits from the anticipated advances in nanomedicine.