They are miniscule materials with the potential to revolutionize the targeted delivery of drugs or gene therapy inside a cell, to detect disease indicators in a lab sample at a very early stage, even to repair damaged bone, muscle, nerve or other tissue.  This Thursday through Saturday, March 22-24, scientists from academia and industry gather at USF to discuss the latest research in, as well as the promise and challenges of, nanotechnology.  This emerging field involves the synthesis of exceedingly tiny things (1 nano is one-millionth the size of a pinhead).

The Nano-Bio Collaborative International Conference 2012 was organized by the USF Nanomedicine Research Center directed by Shyam Mohapatra, PhD.   Dr. Mohapatra’s  team has already published several papers this year extending the limits of nanotechnology applications in basic and translational biomedical research, including a Journal of Global Infectious Diseases  article describing the potential use of nanoparticles for HIV vaccines and microbicides and a Journal Physical Chemistry paper focused on graphene.

USF’s last Nano-Bio Collaborative conference, in 2010, was national – but this one has gone global, Dr. Mohapatra says.  “We have delegates attending from 10 countries and several speakers with international stature and reputations.”

One of the conference coupes was attracting Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Sir Harold Kroto as a keynote speaker. The Francis Eppes Professor of Chemistry at the Florida State University received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1996 for his co-discovery of buckminsterfullerene, a form of pure carbon better known as “buckyballs.”  The unique cage-like structure of this C60 molecule, resembling a geodesic dome, may lend itself to the safer transport of toxic elements within the body;  Dr. Kroto forsees one of the more likely drug delivery uses being radiation therapy for cancer.

Whether through nanoparticles, nanotubules or nanorobots, the application of nanotechnology in such areas as medicine, information technology, energy, the environment and consumer goods has huge potential for economic development.

“The economic impact of nanotechnology  is considered to be in the trillion-dollar range,” Dr. Mohapatra says.  “The nano bio sector’s focus on diagnostic imaging and testing, drug delivery and other therapeutic techniques is a major piece, exceeding $200 billion dollars in products and revenues.”