IN this age of big science - atomic colliders, Square Kilometre Arrays and space stations, I am constantly amazed at the advances taking place at the atomic and molecular levels.

Nanotechnology is the science of the very small. It draws on different disciplines, such as physics, chemistry, mathematics, materials science, engineering and biology to make new materials and machines with applications in medicine, electronics, environmental management and security.

With the power of nanotechnology, comes great responsibility / Image: Istockphoto

Governments, industries and universities around the world, including Western Australia, are pouring a lot of time and money into this rapidly growing area of science and technology.

The challenge for nanotechnologists is to build nano-scale machines or ‘nanobots’ that can safely perform a variety of tasks such as the delivery of drugs into the body, repairing broken bones, surveillance and space exploration.

A team of researchers at Murdoch University is pursuing a number of technologies including the use of iron nano-particles to remove nitrates from fertilisers, nano-polymers to deliver anti-stroke drugs and nano-skin for scarless skin regeneration.

The researchers’ most recent breakthrough is developing an artificial bone that can repair itself quickly and withstand bacterial infection common with existing implanted joints. About 50,000 hip and knee replacements a year are conducted in Australia.

At Murdoch, the nanotechnology group has created a special mineral powder made of the main component of bone, a ceramic called hydroxyapatite.

Because it is made from a powder, the implant can be shaped into plates, screws and pins. And because the implant consists of a substance the body recognises, it promises to be accepted by the body faster than traditional substitutes.

One of the researchers to play a key role in the breakthrough was Mr Ravi Brundavanam. Supervised by Dr Gerard Eddy Poinern, head of Murdoch’s Applied Nanotechnology Research Group, Ravi helped developed the chemical recipe to make nano-hydroxapatite as part of his Honours project. Ravi won an award from the WA Royal Society for his studies.

Dr Poinern's team worked with spheres just 37 nanometres long to create the millions of nano-hydroxyapatite for the implants.

Australian Orthopaedic Association president John Batten believes the science behind creating nano-hydroxyapatite could become an important tool for orthopaedic surgeons.

“It has great potential for prosthesis, for implants and for fracture healing and other things we do to the skeleton,” he says in the institute’s web forum.

Last year, University of Western Australia PhD student Annette Tyler won an Australian Research Council fellowship after using magnetic nano-particles to seal a tear in a retina.
Retinal detachment is one of the world’s leading causes of blindness.

These pioneering researchers deal daily with the challenges of working with tiny objects, measuring 100 nanometers or smaller. One nanometre is one billionth of a metre or a millionth of a millimetre. A human hair is 80,000 nanometres wide.

Nanotechnology also raises issues such as the human health and environmental safety of new nano-materials.

Although products from car parts to sunscreens already contain nano-particles, advocacy groups, politicians and researchers are calling for tougher regulation of this emerging technology, particularly in the medical and health care areas.

They also want governments to regulate nanotechnologies so they do not threaten the environment. Others believe over-regulation would interfere with scientific research.

Dr Andrew Maynard, chief science advisor to the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies in the USA, has said there is limited understanding of the health and safety risks of nanotechnology.

Scientists must proceed cautiously and responsibly. Nevertheless, the exciting new world of the very small may someday revolutionise our world.

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