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FDA Nanotechnology Task Force takes positive step forward
July 26, 2007Today's report from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Nanotechnology Task Force is an important and positive step forward in the agency's effort to tackle the new scientific and regulatory challenges posed by nanotechnology.
The Task Force is clear and candid in acknowledging the pervasive potential of nanotechnology to affect virtually every product category FDA regulates-from pharmaceuticals and devices to cosmetics and food supplements- and in calling for a wide range of FDA actions to prepare for and execute its oversight role. While available evidence does not suggest that all materials with nanoscale dimensions will be hazardous, the Task Force correctly concludes that the agency needs new safety assessment tools, greater nano-specific staff expertise and more risk research to assess the likelihood of long-term health effects from exposure to specific nanoscale materials.
The report also recognizes the need to gather more information from industry, especially to answer safety-related questions, and to provide companies with clear guidance so there can be reasonable and safe pathways to market for the many potential applications of nanotechnology under FDA's jurisdiction.
Equally important, the report signals FDA's commitment to a transparent public process for developing its regulatory policies. Public participation will be key both to developing good policies and winning public confidence in the agency's oversight of nanotechnology, and I applaud the Task Force and FDA for taking this approach.
Finally, the extensive nanotechnology "to do" list outlined in the report should remind Congress, as it considers FDA's 2008 budget, that it needs to fix the problem of FDA's chronic underfunding. The agency urgently needs more resources to do what needs to be done on nanotechnology-and do it urgently-along with the many other challenges the agency faces.
Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies
Equally important, the report signals FDA's commitment to a transparent public process for developing its regulatory policies. Public participation will be key both to developing good policies and winning public confidence in the agency's oversight of nanotechnology, and I applaud the Task Force and FDA for taking this approach.
Finally, the extensive nanotechnology "to do" list outlined in the report should remind Congress, as it considers FDA's 2008 budget, that it needs to fix the problem of FDA's chronic underfunding. The agency urgently needs more resources to do what needs to be done on nanotechnology-and do it urgently-along with the many other challenges the agency faces.
Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies
Nanotechnology Current Events and Nanotechnology News RSSNew study confirms exotic electric properties of graphene
First, it was the soccer-ball-shaped molecules dubbed buckyballs. Then it was the cylindrically shaped nanotubes. Now, the hottest new material in physics and nanotechnology is graphene: a remarkably flat molecule made of carbon atoms arranged in hexagonal rings much like molecular chicken wire.
Behavior modification could ease concerns about nanoparticles
In an advance that could help ease health and environmental concerns about the emerging nanotechnology industry, scientists are reporting development of technology for changing the behavior of nanoparticles in municipal sewage treatment plants - their main gateway into the environment.
UT Knoxville and ORNL researchers turn algae into high-temperature hydrogen source
In the quest to make hydrogen as a clean alternative fuel source, researchers have been stymied about how to create usable hydrogen that is clean and sustainable without relying on an intensive, high-energy process that outweighs the benefits of not using petroleum to power vehicles.
Caltech scientists develop DNA origami nanoscale breadboards for carbon nanotube circuits
In work that someday may lead to the development of novel types of nanoscale electronic devices, an interdisciplinary team of researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) has combined DNA's talent for self-assembly with the remarkable electronic properties of carbon nanotubes, thereby suggesting a solution to the long-standing problem of organizing carbon nanotubes into nanoscale electronic circuits.
New 'finFET' promising for smaller transistors, more powerful chips
Purdue University researchers are making progress in developing a new type of transistor that uses a finlike structure instead of the conventional flat design, possibly enabling engineers to create faster and more compact circuits and computer chips.
Findings show nanomedicine promising for treating spinal cord injuries
Researchers at Purdue University have discovered a new approach for repairing damaged nerve fibers in spinal cord injuries using nano-spheres that could be injected into the blood shortly after an accident.
Magnetic nanoparticles to simultaneously diagnose, monitor and treat
Whether it's magnetic nanoparticles (mNPs) giving an army of 'therapeutically armed' white blood cells direction to invade a deadly tumour's territory, or the use of mNPs to target specific nerve channels and induce nerve-led behaviour (such as the life-dependant thumping of our hearts), mNPs have come a long way in the past decade.
Breakthrough in industrial-scale nanotube processing
Rice University scientists today unveiled a method for the industrial-scale processing of pure carbon-nanotube fibers that could lead to revolutionary advances in materials science, power distribution and nanoelectronics.
An exquisite container
In campy old movies, Lucretia Borgia swans around emptying powder from her ring into wine glasses carelessly left unattended. The poison ring is usually a confection of gold filigree holding a cabochon or faceted gemstone that can be broken to empty the ring's contents. It is invariably enormous - so large it is rather odd nobody seems to notice it.
University of Cincinnati researchers create all-electric spintronics
A multidisciplinary team of UC researchers is the first to find an innovative and novel way to control an electron's spin orientation using purely electrical means.
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