Nanotechnology: A Coming Clinical Laboratory Revolution

Extract

“My own judgment is that the nanotechnology revolution has the potential to change America on a scale equal to, if not greater than, the computer revolution.” U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon).¹

It is imperative that all generations of clinical laboratory scientists understand and appreciate the enormous potential for nanotechnology to solve problems and to improve the quality of our lives and of those receiving medical treatment. These include, but are not limited to, diagnosis, treatment and management of many conditions. Unique insight may be gained into infections, malignancies, genetic errors and enhanced, targeted drug-delivery systems. Nanotechnology is already revolutionizing communications, materials engineering, energy production and approaches to environmental issues. This is a “must know” technology and we need to understand how it will apply to life-changing advances in the clinical laboratory.

Nanoscale refers to matter that occupies space equal to one to ten billionths of a meter (one billionth of a meter = 1 nanometer, Table 1). A red blood cell averages 7000 nanometers (nm), and a human hair measures approximately 50,000 nm in diameter.²

One nanometer is approximately equivalent to the diameter of three or four atoms.¹ Nanotechnology is defined by the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), as research in the range of 1–100 nm.³ One might say that the “nanoworld” lies in the “depths of inner space,” where the properties of matter are no longer what we have been taught. Tensile strength, chemical bonds, and magnetism display uncommon properties. An example would be the enormous strength of…

ABBREVIATIONS: nm = nanometer; IBM = International Business Machines (IBM); AFM = atomic force microscope;