Blog @ NanoVic - Nanotechnology Blog

Premier John Brumby has launched a new Victorian web-based stem cell educational resource Stem Cell Channel at the Bio2008 international biotechnology conference in San Diego, California. Innovation Minister Gavin Evans has described the site as

“a go-to resource for students and teachers, and covers ethics, the science and scientists, career information, patients, legislation and has an ‘ask-a-scientist’ function”.

The Stem Cell Channel has been developed by the Australia Stem Cell centre with the support of the Victorian Government. It has been cited by Premier Brumby to represent

“a human capital investment in the next generation of scientists”.

The Stem Cell Channel is reminiscent of educational material supported by Nanovic, such as the SHINE secondary school nanotechnology education website. In particular, the new resource is consistent with the views of Francesca Calati and other co-creaters of the SHINE website, in that it offers secondary school students a direct window into the world of modern and current science-in-action. The Australian Stem Cell Centre Chief Executive Officer Professor Stephen Livesey said

“We need to acknowledge and understand that young people now learn in different ways. Technology is driving their style of learning and we need to adapt to this new approach.”

This approach is also consistent with a new nanotechnology educational resource to be launched by the Australian Office of Nanotechnology later in 2008.

Good news that Science Outside the Square in South Australia is re-running the ‘Nanotech for the terrified!’ event. 200 people attended the first event held earlier this year with over 230 more on a waiting list. Such a turnout for an evening of nanoscience is quite an accomplishment and really exciting.

Prof Joe Shapter and Brenton Banham from Flinders University and Kylie Turton from CSIROSEC will provide an entertaining, hands-on exploration of the nano by encouraging people to take part in ‘The Nanotube Challenge’, and make some of the Graffiti Research Lab’s ‘Throwies’. All in the name of discovering more about the possibilities of nanotechnology.

The next ‘Nanotech for the terrified!’ is at The Governor Hindmarsh Hotel, 59 Port Road, Adelaide on Wednesday 2 July 2008 from 6.30pm - 8.00pm. This event is in association with the CSIRO Science Education Centre and sponsored by the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, Government of South Australia; and The Advertiser. It’s free but registrations are essential. Contact Kate for more information or to make a booking.

The premier journal Nature Nanotechnology has published two free online papers as part of a global effort to raise awareness and stimulate research into poverty and human research. The articles discuss how nantoechnology might impact on countries of the developing world. The first publication, entitled Nanotechnology and the Challenge of Clean Water, presents the opinion that although nanoscience does offer a great deal of potential for increasing global access to appropriate drinking water, care must be taken to ensure that nanotechnology transfer is accompanied by technology adaptation and technology adoption to suit the country in which it is applied. The second publication, Are Natural Resources a Curse?, presents an interesting discussion pertaining to the changes in global demand for elemental resources with emerging technologies, and how this can have a very strong impact on nations and commmunities. For example, should carbon nanotubes emerge as a contender to replace copper wires for transmission of electricity, countries such as Zambia may lose out since a quarter of its foreign exchange relies on minerals such as copper. Equally, it might be possible that nanotechnology adds value to a particular country’s exports in a way that mitigates heavy reliability on a particular resource. Follow the links to the articles above for more interesting aspects relating to nanotechology and the developing world; an editorial also addresses the issue. Clearly it’s a topic which requires further multidisciplinary discussion.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have released a Nanotechnology Report into the scientific and regulatory challenges arising with the increased number of products using nanotechnology.  The report highlighted that products containing nanoscale materials should be treated like any other emerging technology regulated by the FDA in that they should be proved safe and effective, but admit that there may be complications due to the fact that properties of materials can change significantly on the nanoscale.   The report recommends that “transparent, consistent, and predictable regulatory pathways” need to be developed, including specific guidance on when the use of nanoscale materials may change the regulatory status of products.   How to test products to better regulate them, including how they affect biological systems, was also recommended by the report.

On Monday 7^th May, 2007, at the BIO2007 conference in Boston, we launched two new ventures from NanoVic: Interstitial NanoSystems and Quintain NanoSystems.  Not only was it a very exciting opportunity to launch these ventures at an international conference, but we were fortunate enough to have it announced at a press release by Premier Steve Bracks at BIO2007.  The focus was on our transdermal delivery patches for the delivery of insulin, and the development of a device based on nanoparticle diagnostics for early detection of meningococcal disease.  You can check out footage from the press conference on YouTube, entitled Awesome Australian Announcements, and Victoria Australia Revolutionizes Insulin Delivery.

Congratulations to Francesca Calati, Dr Amanda Clarke and the nanotechnology teaching team at St Helena Secondary College for winning the Curriculum Innovation Award at the Victorian Education Excellence Awards.  The awards are designed to celebrate the work of Victoria’s teachers and to provide professional development opportunities. The award is worth $20,000 to cover costs associated with travel, accommodation, leave and any other support required to undertake, extend, consolidate or document the curriculum innovation.  St Helena intends to implement Teacher Professional Development opportunities related to their nanotechnology program - SHINE (St Helena Innovative Nanotechnology Education).  SHINE will be officially launched by the Minister for Education, John Lenders on Friday 18th May.

Last night I travelled to Canberra to attend the awards ceremony for the Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science with Mrs Francesca Calati of St Helena Secondary College.  For me there were two themes that shone through.

Firstly, several of the prize winners praised science as a team activity, one that could not be done in isolation.  Ms Majorie Colvill, winner of the primary teaching award, stressed the importance of meeting with other science professionals.

Secondly, both Prof Mandyam Srinivassan, winner of the Prime Minisiter’s Prize for Science and Dr Naomi McClure-Griffiths, winner of the Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year emphasised the importance of curiosity-driven science.  In their opinions, asking the ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions were of primary importance.  With freedom to do this, it is then possible to use this understanding to examine potential practical applications.

These observations resonate with the work we are doing to provide support to St Helena Secondary College with the introduction of their nanotechnology curriculum.  The nanotechnology elective aims to spark curiousity and the development of the curriculum has necessitated a cooperative appraoch with industry and academia.

Today I was a panelist at the State of Design: Design for Business and Business for Design conference held in Melbourne.

My panel was considering opportunities and future directions for design and business. I think design is instrumental in the commercialisation and innovation of nanotechnologies as many of these technologies completely change the base or model for products and processes.

One of the examples I used was transdermal delivery using micro-array patches (MAPs). These is a great example of good design as MAPs can replace needles for administering drugs, vaccines and hormones. Customer comfort is enhanced by replacing syringes and other good design aspects are seen in distribution efficiencies such as transport, storage and reduced requirement for specialised staff.

The National Nanotechnology Strategy Taskforce has just released its “Report on Options for a National Nanotechnology Strategy” paper.  While this has been a long time coming, I think they have delivered a good result.  They have identified the critical role of government in addressing immediate issues of OH&S, community awareness, metrology and standards, and international cooperation.  They also identified an opportunity for new national mechanisms – a Federal/State coordination function, and a major national centre of excellence – to optimise the uptake of nanotechnology in Australia.  While there are pros and cons to these ideas, I hope these mechanisms receive full consideration by the Minister.

The other aspect of the Taskforce paper that impressed was that they outlined the alternative “do nothing” scenario, in which the Commonwealth takes new action and current State and industry initiatives continue to drive Australian nanotechnology.  The Taskforce is clearly stating that this is a critical time for Australian nanotechnology, and that failure by the Federal Government to play a role leaves Australia falling behind in technology and industry development, ability to handle HSE impact and public concerns, and international engagement with its main trading partners.

What do you think of the paper?