Tag Archives: Jonsson Cancer Center

UK strategy for investing in nanotech; new insight into titanium dioxide toxicology; creative nonfiction writing for scientists

It sounds promising. UK strategy for nanotechnology business investment is the title of a news item on Nanowerk which outlines the UK Technology Board’s investment strategy. From the news item,

The UK’s Technology Strategy Board has developed a nanotechnology strategy document (pdf download) that sets out the processes the Technology Strategy Board will use to determine how it will invest in the nanotechnology space in a way that helps UK businesses to succeed on a global scale. It is based on the fundamental premise that the technologies likely to see the most success will be those that result in developing materials and devices with new functionality that address markets driven by society’s greatest challenges.

The item goes on to outline the specific areas (environment/energy; aging population, media) where investments will be made but gives no details about the amount of funding available or the source for funds. Curious, I checked out the UK Technology’s Board’s site.  No details to be found on the About Us pages although there is a link to a  Dept. of Business Innovation and Skills (presumably a government department). My guess is that these are government funds and the board has decided to be discreet about the connection. I’m not ready to draw any conclusions; I’m just noticing.

I’ve been following  (somewhat lazily) discussions around titanium dioxide particles (widely used in sunscreens) and their possible toxicology. Nanoparticles used in common household goods caused genetic damage in mice on Nanowerk sheds some new light on the subject. From the news item,

In the past, these TiO2 [titanium dioxide] nanoparticles have been considered non-toxic in that they do not incite a chemical reaction. Instead, it is surface interactions that the nanoparticles have within their environment- in this case inside a mouse – that is causing the genetic damage, [Robert] Schiestl [professor of pathology, radiation oncology and environmental health sciences at Jonsson Cancer Center at the University of California, Los Angeles] said. They wander throughout the body causing oxidative stress, which can lead to cell death. It is a novel mechanism of toxicity, a physicochemical reaction, these particles cause in comparison to regular chemical toxins, which are the usual subjects of toxicological research, Schiestl said. “The novel principle is that titanium by itself is chemically inert. However, when the particles become progressively smaller, their surface, in turn, becomes progressively bigger and in the interaction of this surface with the environment oxidative stress is induced,” he said.

I have posted about titanium dioxide in the past, this posting is the most relevant to this discussion as it contains a reference to some work by Japanese researchers who demonstrated that titanium dioxide cause genetic damage in mice. Presumably building on this work, the researchers at Jonsson Cancer Center have determined a possible mechanism for how the damage is caused.

This is the first time I’ve seen a study that doesn’t ‘shrink’ standard toxicology to the nanoscale. For example, “carbon nanotubes look like asbestos fibres so we should test to find out if they have the same effect on lungs. ” This makes sense and it should be done. At the same time, I’m glad to see that researchers are taking into account the fact that materials at the nanoscale behave in novel ways leading to novel forms of toxicology.

I was intrigued to read Dr. Kristen Kulinowki’s opinion piece in  Azonano’s Nanotechnology Thought Leaders Series … insights from the world’s leading players.  Her piece titled, Temptation, Temptation, Temptation: Why Easy Answers About Nanomaterial Risk are Probably Wrong, provided some valuable insights for me about the work that has been done to collect information about nanomaterials and their potentials risks while citing some useful resources.

Before you go to read the article there are a few things you might want to keep in mind. There are a couple themes that are not followed through so the piece jumps around, the tone is problematic, and the academic style is sometimes inserted into a more chatty blog style. All of which made reading the opinion piece a little more work for me.

I got the impression that Kulinowski did not put much effort into writing this piece, i.e. she tossed it off. The chatty, casual style (a creative writing technique) takes a lot more effort and practice and is much more difficult to pull off  than most people realize, especially when you’re writing nonfiction. (Yes, some people are naturals but even they need to work at it if they plan to continue long term.)