New Center to Focus on Nanotechnology Applications

A new center will focus on applications of nanotechnology as it applies to water in order to develop new medical therapies and solve persistent problems in environmental engineering. Called the Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology, the new enterprise is affiliated with Rice University (Houston, TX, USA).

Nanoscale science, engineering, and technology are focused on a scale ranging from the size of individual atoms to that of large molecules. Research activities at the center will emphasize the interface between nanomaterials and water-based systems, ranging in size from biomolecules and cells to whole organisms and the surrounding environment. This wet/dry interface is key to applications in medicine and environmental engineering. Gold nanoshells injected into cancer cells, for example, are currently being tested as a cancer therapy. One environmental application is wastewater treatment, since nanostructured materials might make efficient filtration systems.

"Our goal is to shape nanoscience into a discipline with the relevance, triumphs, and vitality of a modern-day polymer science—into something that people use every day,” stated Vicki Colvin, associate professor of chemistry at Rice and co-director of the center. Rice University and five other learning centers share a US$10.5 million grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation to focus on applications of nanoscience to biology and the environment.




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