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Mason Peacock

Doc. Cassel

STEM project

4/24/17

The world of the Nano

Image a world where man made microscopic particles swim around in the human blood stream.

This world for a long time was little more than a sci-fi dream, but this is no longer the case. What

has happened is the development of nanotechnology more specifically its use in medicine. This

new technology could change the way humans treat illness and develop medications, but with

this comes issues. The main one is what is the effect of nano-medication on the human body long

term and short term.

What is nanotechnology? nanotechnology is a branch of technology that deals with dimensions

and tolerances of less than 100 nanometers. Nanotechnology, or nanotech for short is a

manipulation of individual atoms and molecules. There are many fields that have started

intergrading this new technology, such as the medical field. This field has its own name for the

use of nanotech, this is nano- medication. nano-medication ranges from medical application of

nanomaterials to biological devices, such as a nonelectric biosensor. These nanomaterials and

bio-devices would be placed in the body, and in many cases, remain for the life span of that

organism. This brings up the question, of with these foreign objects placed inside the body what

could be the effect/toll on the body? As of the time of this paper, nano-medication is still very
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new and little is known about the effect due to the small amount of nano- material that has been

approved for use on humans. Still many studies have been done about the potential risks and

gains.

One major study that has be done is on the main breakthrough that makes nanotechnology

work. This is the discovery of Ultra Fine Particles (UFPs). UFPs are microscopic particles that

have an ultra-fine surface, this surface is the source of most of the risk involved in nano-

medication. Due to the surface being so smooth and fine the growth of bacteria on the particles is

unknown. This is a problem because with Nano-medication the UFPS are injected into the blood

stream. The unknown toxic level of the UPFs can potentially poison the organism. The warmer

side of the discovery of the UPFS is that with these particles doctors can in detail display the

molecular and cellular changes in the human body (NCBI 4). There are so many possibility with

nano-medication and the use of the UFPs, one of the most talked about and the first use of

clinical nanotechnology testing is Site-specific-targeted drug delivery (NLM) (NCBI 1). This

mean that doctors can target infected areas and send medicine into the blood stream through

piggybacking it on UFPs using a nanoparticle shell and controlling the particles

electromagnetic waves. This practice alone can change the way that tumors and cancer is treated,

by sending in medication or radiation in cancers case on the UFPs. In the case of tumors this

treatment could eliminate the need for dangerous surgery if the tumors is located in a sensitive

place, such as the brain.

Now to circle back to one of the first ideas that UFPs could be used for was the mapping of

molecular and cellular strictures in the body. This is the second clinical use of nanotechnology

and falls under the category of diagnostic tests but why that so important is don't X-rays and cat-

scans do the same. No they do give a look into the organisms body but only so far by exploring
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the use of quantum dots, with their size-dependent fluorescence, to illuminate organs, such as

lymph nodes, and tumors (NCBI 2). Quantum dots are very small semiconductor particles, only

several nanometers in size, so small that their optical and electronic properties differ from those

of larger particles. These dots are a central theme in nanotechnology and are how doctors map

cellular strictures which are in most cases unseen by cat scans and X-rays, but with every pro in

new technology there is almost always a con. The con is the use of quantum dots may pose risks

to human subjects because the dots contain heavy metals that have the potential to diffuse into

surrounding tissue over time and disrupt cellular functions (NCBI 2). Many study have been

done throughout the field of nanotechnology, but none more than nano-medicine. As time goes

on and more properties and risk for this new age tech will be found so is the effects are still

mostly unknown what can we do minimize the theorized risks.

Figure 1 Miloichikov, articles published on nanotechnology use.

Researchers can do such a thing in three steps, being minimization, management, and

communication of risks. First step to the minimization of risks on subjects, is to understand and
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predicting risks is the most significant challenge for risk minimization because of the lack of

clinical studies and experiments preformed with animal and human subjects. Because of this a

new discipline known as nanotoxicology examines the effects of nanomaterials on organisms and

the environment. They are conducting this study in vitro using animal and human cell (NCBI 4).

Vitro meaning (of a process) performed or taking place in a test tube, culture dish, or elsewhere

outside a living organism. Along with these studies in the minimize risk step, next comes the risk

management. To manage the risk that come with the nano-materials all the test in vitro will be

ran through specific test that reenacted condition that happen inside the human body. The Third

and final step is communicating the risks that can happen under specific conditions. This will be

followed up this all the pros and cons that can come to that person when the nano-material is

inserted in the body and what to do when placed.

Nanotechnology and the subcategory of nano-medicine have a long way to come before we see

this become a main stream topic, but when it finally comes to market will the risk out way the

amazing and life changing new way of medicine it brings. Only time can till and the studies

being conducted now show much promise with only two long term risks that are not yet fully

known. With every great step in technology two steps back must be taken to measure all the

results and that is where the futuristic technology of nanotech is in modern day society
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Works cited

Hill, Rodney A. "All that Glitters", BANTech (Biological Applications of Nanomaterials) , Nanomedicine:

Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine. Accessed 22 April 2017

http://www.nanomedjournal.com/content/nanogoldinmed

Mehlich Jan and Felix Thiele," Nanomedicine: visions, risk, potential", 2014-03-06 Accessed 22 April 2017

https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/ejnm.2014.6.issue-1/ejnm-2013-0022/ejnm-2013-0022.xml

Jong Wim H De and Paul JA Borm. "Drug delivery and nanoparticles": Applications and hazards, 2008 Jun,

Accessed 27 April 2017 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2527668/

Resnik David B, JD, PhD, Bioethicist and IRB Vice, "Ethical Issues in Clinical Trials Involving Nanomedicine"

National Center for Biotechnology Information2006 Nov 9, Accessed 22 April 2017

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2695593/

Miloichikova I A IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering 98012011, Application of Traditional

and Nanostructure Materials for Medical Electron Beams Collimation: Accessed 24 April 2017

http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1749-4699/6/1/014011