NEW YORK, May 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue:

http://www.reportlinker.com/p0181059/Global-Nanobiotechnology-Industry.html#utm_source=prnewswire&utm_medium=pr&utm_campaign=Nanotechn

This report analyzes the worldwide markets for Nanobiotechnology in US$ Million by the following Technology Segments: Nanomaterials (Solid Inorganic Nanoparticles, Nanocomposites, Nanostructured Materials & Membranes, Nanotubes and Fullerenes, & Other Nanomaterials), and Nanodevices/Tools. The report provides separate comprehensive analytics for the US, Japan, Europe, and Rest of World. Annual forecasts are provided for each region for the period of 2009 through 2017. Also, a six-year historic analysis is provided for these markets. The report profiles 117 companies including many key and niche players worldwide such as Aduro BioTech, Arrowhead Research Corporation, Calando Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Agilent Technologies Inc., Asklepios BioPharmaceutical Inc., Biosante Phosphate Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Celgene Corporation, Elan Pharmaceuticals, Elitech Group, Flamel Technologies, Inc., Gilead Sciences Inc., Life Technologies Corporation, NanoBio Corporation, Nanogen, Inc., Nanophase Technologies Corporation, pSivida Ltd., Sigma Aldrich Company, Starpharma Holdings Ltd., Dendritic Nanotechnologies, Inc., SkyePharma Pharmaceuticals, Unidym, Inc., and Zyvex Instruments LLC. Market data and analytics are derived from primary and secondary research. Company profiles are primarily based upon search engine sources in the public domain.

I. INTRODUCTION, METHODOLOGY & PRODUCT DEFINITIONSStudy Reliability and Reporting Limitations I-1Disclaimers I-2Data Interpretation & Reporting Level I-3Quantitative Techniques & Analytics I-3Product Definitions and Scope of Study I-31. Nanomaterials I-4Solid Inorganic Nanoparticles I-4Nanocomposites I-4Nanostructured Materials and Membranes I-4Nanotubes and Fullerenes I-4Other Nanomaterials I-4Nanoshells I-4Nanohorns I-5Nanocapsules I-52. Nanodevices/Tools I-5II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. INDUSTRY OVERVIEW II-1

A Curtain Raiser II-1

Nanobiotechnology – The Next Big Thing II-2

Nanotechnology & Biology Tie the Knot: “Two to Tango” II-4

Where Conventional Molecular Science Falls Short Nanobio

Steps In II-4

Visit link:
Global Nanobiotechnology Industry

(ISNS) — No longer the stuff of science fiction, nanoparticles are becoming more and more common. The extremely tiny objects can do just about everything, from filtering pollution to delivering medicine in the body. However, no one is sure of the effects if they get loose in the environment.

A team of scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst thinks there may be something to worry about.

They have not proven the particles are dangerous, but have shown that some nanoparticles can be absorbed into plants and mutate the plant’s DNA, and that, they say, is worth a further look.

Nanoparticles are so small that they act as a bridge between the size of atoms and something of tangible substance. The thickness of a human hair is measured in millionths of a meter; nanoparticles, in billionths of a meter.

And now, they are everywhere. Manufacturers put them in clothing such as socks to kill bacteria. They are in a type of house paint that cleans itself in sunlight and in the coating on eyeglasses. Clear sunscreen lotion now on the market contains zinc or titanium nanoparticles. Cars will soon have paint that heals itself from scratches.

Nanoparticles have become so common it is assumed inevitably they will end up in the environment.

To see what would happen to plants exposed to nanoparticles, the researchers took particles of copper oxide and exposed three kinds of plants to them: radishes and two types of rye, the researchers reported in Environmental Science & Technology.

They chose nanoparticles of copper because they are widely used for coloring glass, in ceramics, as a polish and in the manufacturing of rayon. They also are used in the electronics industry to manufacture semiconductors, said Bryant Nelson of the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

The research team also used particles of copper oxide larger than nano-size as a comparison as well as regular copper ions.

Copper oxide is an oxidizing agent, and some oxidizing agents from metals can cause cancer in humans, a reason for the concern.

Here is the original post:
Nanoparticles may pose environmental threat

Category: Science & Technology Posted: May 8, 2012 08:02AM Author: Guest_Jim_*

When most people think of the potential uses for microsubmarines, which are one tenth the width of a human hair in length, they most likely envision the tiny vessel swimming through the human body, delivering medicine wherever it is needed. Scientists are not like most people though. As reported in the American Chemical Society’s journal Nano, these technological marvels can be used to clean up oil spills.

Despite their incredibly small size, these submarines can travel with great speed through water. This allows them to quickly grab a droplet of oil and move it to where it can actually be recollected. To help with collecting the oil, the outside of the submarines have been coated in a superhydrophobic material that also absorbs oil.

Already the microsubs have proven effective at cleaning up olive oil and motor oils spills in a laboratory. Potentially we will find these machines in the oceans when a massive spill occurs, or in factories, to clean up contaminated water before it can leak out.

Read this article:
Cleaning Up Oil Spills with Microsubmarines

Newswise FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. An interdisciplinary team of engineers at the University of Arkansas has developed a wireless health-monitoring system that gathers critical patient information, regardless of the patients location, and communicates that information in real time to a physician, hospital or the patient herself.

The system includes a series of nanostructured, textile sensors integrated into a conventional sports bra for women and vest for men. Via a lightweight and wireless module that snaps onto these garments, the sensors communicate with system software that relies on a smart phone to collect information, compress it and send it over a variety of wireless networks.

Our e-bra enables continuous, real-time monitoring to identify any pathophysiological changes, said Vijay Varadan, Distinguished Professor of electrical engineering. It is a platform on which various sensors for cardiac-health monitoring are integrated into the fabric. The garment collects and transmits vital health signals to any desired location in the world.

The system monitors blood pressure, body temperature, respiratory rate, oxygen consumption, some neural activity and all the readings provided by a conventional electrocardiograph (ECG), including the ability to display inverted T waves, which indicate the onset of cardiac arrest. The system does not require a cuff or any extra accessories to measure blood pressure and could therefore replace conventional blood-pressure monitors. It could also replace the cumbersome combination of ECG sensors and wires attached to patients while they walk on treadmills.

The sensors, which are smaller than a dime, include gold nanowires, as well as flexible, conducting textile nanosensors. The sensors are made of arrays of gold nano-electrodes fabricated on a flexible substrate. The textile sensors are woven into the bra material. These sensors do not require conventional sticky electrodes or the use of gel.

Electrical signals and other physiological data gathered by the sensors are sent to the snap-on wireless module, the contents of which are housed in a plastic box that is slightly smaller than a ring box. As the critical wireless component, the module is essentially a low-powered laptop computer that includes an amplifier, an antenna, a printed circuit board, a microprocessor, a Bluetooth module, a battery and various sensors. The size of the module depends heavily on power consumption and minimum battery size. Varadan said that anticipated battery and Bluetooth upgrades will allow the researchers to build a smaller 1.5 inches long, 0.75 inch wide and 0.25 inch deep lighter and flexible module that will replace the rigid box.

Data from the sensors then stream to commercially available cell phones and hand-held devices, which expand the use of the system beyond health care. By carrying a cell phone, athletes can monitor all signs mentioned above and other metrics, such as number of calories burned during a workout. To render clean data, the software includes filtering algorithms to mitigate problems due to motion of the hand-held device during exercise.

Whether on a computer or cell phone, the software is set up so that users can view all data on one screen or window, or they can view each measurement on its own unique window. The software also includes a global positioning system that tracks the exact latitude and longitude of the patient or athlete. The geographic information is transferred to a cloud cluster and stored in a secured database that doctors or other health-care personnel can access to view location of the patient as well as historic or real-time ECG data. The system can also be programmed to send emergency messages, via voice or text messaging, if it detects extreme or abnormal conditions.

Varadan has not yet published findings on the e-bra, but results on the system, which he calls an e-Nanoflex Sensor System, were published in the Journal of Nanotechnology in Engineering and Medicine. The research is supported by the Global Institute for Nanotechnology in Engineering and Medicine.

Varadan holds the College of Engineerings Twenty-First Century Endowed Chair in Nano- and Bio-Technologies and Medicine and the colleges Chair in Microelectronics and High Density Electronics. He is director of the High Density Electronics Center and the Center for Wireless Nano-, Bio- and Info-Tech Sensors and Systems, which is funded by the National Science Foundation. Varadan is also a professor of neurosurgery in the College of Medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, Ark.

See the rest here:
Engineers Develop Textile Sensors that Monitor Cardiac Signs and Communicate with Smart Phones

3 May 2012

A team of scientists has developed microsubmarines that could help clean up oil spills.

According to a statement, a team of scientists has reported the development and successful testing of the first self-propelled microsubmarines designed to pick up droplets of oil from contaminated waters and transport them to collection facilities.

The report published in the journal ACS Nano concludes that these tiny machines could play an important role in cleaning up oil spills such as the 2010 Deepwater Horizon incident in the Gulf of Mexico.

Joseph Wang and his team, from the University of California San Diegos nano-engineering department, developed so-called microsubmarines, which require very little fuel and move ultrafast, to see whether these small engines could help clean up oil.

Tests showed that the cone-shaped microsubmarines can collect droplets of olive oil and motor oil in water and transport them through the water.

The microsubs have a special surface coating, which makes them superhydrophobic or extremely water-repellent and oil-absorbent.

These results demonstrate the potential of the superhydrophobic-modified microsubmarines for facile, rapid and highly efficient collection of oils in oil-contaminated water samples, said the researchers.

Different versions of micro-engines have been developed, including devices that could transport medicine through the bloodstream to diseased parts of the body. But no one has ever shown that these devices which are about 10 times smaller than the width of a human hair could help clean up oil spills.

The project received funding from the National Science Foundation, NATO Science for Peace and Security Program, Spanish MICINN, Beatriu de Pins (Government of Catalonia) and University of Alcal (Madrid).

See the rest here:
Tiny submarines could help clean oil-contaminated waters

HOLLISTON, Mass., May 3, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Harvard Bioscience, Inc. (HBIO – News), a global developer, manufacturer, and marketer of a broad range of tools to advance life science research and regenerative medicine, today reported unaudited financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2012.

First Quarter Reported Results

Revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2012 were $28.3 million, an increase of $2.0 million, or 7.6%, compared to revenues of $26.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2011. Currency exchange rates had a negative 1.0% effect on revenues in the first quarter of 2012 compared with the first quarter of 2011. The Company’s acquisitions of CMA Microdialysis AB (“CMA”) in July 2011 and AHN Biotechnologie GmbH (“AHN”) in February 2012 had a positive 4.4% effect on revenues. Excluding the effects of currency changes and acquisitions, the Company’s organic revenue growth for the first quarter of 2012 was 4.2% over the same period in the previous year.

Net income, as measured under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), was $0.5 million, or $0.02 per diluted share for the three months ended March 31, 2012 compared to $1.7 million, or $0.06 per diluted share, for the same period in 2011. The unfavorable year-to-year quarterly GAAP earnings comparison was primarily due to increased spending in the Company’s development-stage Regenerative Medicine Device (“RMD”) business.

On a non-GAAP adjusted basis, earnings per share for our core Life Science Research Tools (“LSRT”) business for the first quarter of 2012 were $0.09 per diluted share compared with $0.08 per diluted share for the first quarter of 2011. Non-GAAP adjusted earnings per share for our RMD business for the first quarter of 2012 was a loss of $0.03 per diluted share, compared with a loss of $0.01 per diluted share for the first quarter of 2011, and reflected greater activities in developing this new initiative. The Company’s total non-GAAP adjusted earnings per share, reflecting LSRT and RMD combined, were $0.06 per diluted share for the first quarter of 2012 compared with $0.07 per diluted share for the first quarter of 2011.

Commenting on the Company’s performance Chane Graziano, CEO, stated, “We are pleased with our first quarter 2012 performance. Overall our organic growth in orders was 6% and for revenues was 4% versus the first quarter of 2011, fueled by demand in each of our four major product groups. During the first quarter of 2012 we hired a new general manager at our Denville Scientific subsidiary and introduced an exciting new nano spectrophotometer product at our Biochrom subsidiary. We expect each to have a significant impact in the second half of 2012.”

Mr. Graziano continued “In the second quarter of 2012, we expect revenues to be in the $28-$29 million range and we expect non-GAAP diluted earnings per share for our core LSRT business to be in the 9-10 cents per share range. In RMD, we expect second quarter operating expenses to be about 4 cents per diluted share. For the year, we are maintaining our guidance at $115-$120 million range for revenues and 39-42 cents non-GAAP diluted earnings per share range for our core LSRT business. We also continue to expect our RMD operating expenses to be about 13 cents per diluted share this year.”

Our second quarter 2012 revenue and earnings guidance was calculated using exchange rates (USD 1.62/GBP and USD 1.32/Euro) approximating April 27, 2012 rates and assumes a continuation of the business conditions as we see them at this time. The non-GAAP adjusted earnings per diluted share guidance excludes amortization of intangible assets, impact of future acquisitions, acquisition costs, any future restructuring actions, and stock-based compensation expense recognized under the provisions of FASB ASC Topic 718, “Compensation — Stock Compensation.” See the table below for a reconciliation of our estimated non-GAAP adjusted earnings per diluted share to our estimated GAAP earnings per diluted share. See Exhibits 4, 5 and 6 for reconciliations of GAAP to non-GAAP adjusted operating income, GAAP to non-GAAP adjusted net income and GAAP diluted earnings per common share to non-GAAP adjusted diluted earnings per common share for the three months ended March 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively.

Operating Results for Continuing Operations

Three months ended March 31, 2012 compared to three months ended March 31, 2011:

Link:
HBIO Reports First Quarter 2012 Revenue Growth of 8% Over First Quarter 2011

You wouldn’t know it from appearances, but a metal cube the size of a toaster, created at the University of Alberta, is capable of performing the same genetic tests as most fully equipped modern laboratories-and in a fraction of the time.

At its core is a small plastic chip developed with nanotechnology that holds the key to determining whether a patient is resistant to cancer drugs or has diseases like malaria. The chip can also pinpoint infectious diseases in a herd of cattle.

Talk about thinking outside the box.

Dubbed the Domino, the technology-developed by a U of A research team-has the potential to revolutionize point-of-care medicine. The innovation has also earned Aquila Diagnostic Systems, the Edmonton-based nano startup that licensed the technology, a shot at $175,000 as a finalist for the TEC NanoVenturePrize award.

“We’re basically replacing millions of dollars of equipment that would be in a conventional, consolidated lab with something that costs pennies to produce and is field portable so you can take it where needed. That’s where this technology shines,” said Jason Acker, an associate professor of laboratory medicine and pathology at the U of A and chief technology officer with Aquila.

The Domino employs polymerase chain reaction technology used to amplify and detect targeted sequences of DNA, but in a miniaturized form that fits on a plastic chip the size of two postage stamps. The chip contains 20 gel posts-each the size of a pinhead-capable of identifying sequences of DNA with a single drop of blood.

Each post performs its own genetic test, meaning you can not only find out whether you have malaria, but also determine the type of malaria and whether your DNA makes you resistant to certain antimalarial drugs. It takes less than an hour to process one chip, making it possible to screen large populations in a short time.

“That’s the real value proposition-being able to do multiple tests at the same time,” Acker said, adding that the Domino has been used in several recently published studies, showing similar accuracy to centralized labs.

The Domino effect: Personalized medicine

The Domino was developed by a team led by Linda Pilarski, an experimental oncologist with the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry and a former Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in biomedical nanotechnology.

Read more:
U of A develops new technology that enables personalized medicine

A local medical company, working in coordination with Penn State, has earned a $1 million grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

Keystone Nano, based in the Zetachron building at 1981 Pine Hall Road in Ferguson Township, has been working on a possible new drug delivery method, using a product called NanoJackets, to treat a variety of cancers.

The grant, supplied by the Commonwealth Universal Research Enhancement Program, is intended to allow Keystone Nano to speed its potentially live-saving product to market, according to Thomas Hostetter, a spokesman for the state Department of Health.

A goal of this initiative is commercialization of innovations derived from prior research endeavors, he wrote in an email.

Six years ago, the patented NanoJacket technology was developed out of a partnership between two Penn State professors, one specializing in materials science and the other in medicine.

Dr. Mark Kester is director of the Penn State Center for Nanomedicine and Materials and the co-leader for experimental therapeutics at the Hershey Cancer

Institute, and professor James Adair is director of the Particulate Materials Center and a professor in the materials science and engineering department at Penn State.

Adair first looked into the science that scored the grant for Keystone Nano after a heart condition nearly killed him.

As a result of his condition and fortunate recovery from it, he said, I wonder if these nanomaterials can do something for health, Davidson said.

Adair reached out to Kester, a friend, and the two began collaborating on what eventually turned into Nano- Jackets.

View post:
Nano firm gets $1 million grant to combat cancer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Regulators are proposing that food companies that want to use tiny engineered particles in their packaging will have to provide extra testing data to show the products are safe.

The Food and Drug Administration issued tentative guidelines Friday for food and cosmetic companies interested in using nanoparticles, which are measured in billionths of a meter. Nanoscale materials are generally less than 100 nanometers in diameter. A sheet of paper, in comparison, is 100,000 nanometers thick. A human hair is 80,000 nanometers thick.

The submicroscopic particles are increasingly showing up in FDA-regulated products like sunscreens, skin lotions and glare-reducing eyeglass coatings. Some scientists believe the technology will one day be used in medicine, but the FDA’s announcement did not address that use.

The draft guidance suggests the FDA will require food companies to prove the safety of any packaging using nanotechnology.

Under longstanding regulations, companies aren’t required to seek regulatory approval before launching products containing established ingredients and materials, such as caffeine, spices and various preservatives.

But FDA officials said Friday that foods and packaging containing nanoparticles would require more scrutiny.

“At this point, in terms of the science, we think it’s likely the exemption does not apply and we would encourage folks to come in and talk to us,” said Dennis Keefe, director of FDA’s office of food additive safety.

Keefe said companies are studying whether nanoparticles can reduce the risk of bacterial contamination in certain foods. He said the agency is aware of just one food package currently on the market that uses nanoparticles but did not identify it. He said more are expected in coming years.

The FDA has previously stated its position that nanotechnology is not inherently unsafe; however, materials at the nano scale can pose different safety issues than do things that are far larger.

“This is an emerging, evolving technology and we’re trying to get ahead of the curb to ensure the ingredients and substances are safe,” Keefe said.

Visit link:
FDA outlines rules for nanotechnology in food

WASHINGTON (AP) — Regulators are proposing that food companies that want to use tiny engineered particles in their packaging may have to provide extra testing data to show the products are safe.

The Food and Drug Administration issued tentative guidelines Friday for food and cosmetic companies interested in using nanoparticles, which are measured in billionths of a meter. Nanoscale materials are generally less than 100 nanometers in diameter. A sheet of paper, in comparison, is 100,000 nanometers thick. A human hair is 80,000 nanometers thick.

The submicroscopic particles are increasingly showing up in FDA-regulated products like sunscreens, skin lotions and glare-reducing eyeglass coatings. Some scientists believe the technology will one day be used in medicine, but the FDA’s announcement did not address that use.

The draft guidance suggests the FDA may require food companies to provide data establishing the safety of any packaging using nanotechnology.

Under longstanding regulations, companies aren’t required to seek regulatory approval before launching products containing established ingredients and materials, such as caffeine, spices and various preservatives.

But FDA officials said Friday that foods and packaging containing nanoparticles may require more scrutiny.

“At this point, in terms of the science, we think it’s likely the exemption does not apply and we would encourage folks to come in and talk to us,” said Dennis Keefe, director of FDA’s office of food additive safety.

Keefe said companies are studying whether nanoparticles can reduce the risk of bacterial contamination in certain foods. He said the agency is aware of just one food package currently on the market that uses nanoparticles but did not identify it. He said more are expected in coming years.

The FDA has previously stated its position that nanotechnology is not inherently unsafe; however, materials at the nano scale can pose different safety issues than do things that are far larger.

“This is an emerging, evolving technology and we’re trying to get ahead of the curb to ensure the ingredients and substances are safe,” Keefe said.

See original here:
FDA proposes rules for nanotechnology in food

18 April 2012 Last updated at 19:51 ET

Scientists at the University of St Andrews have begun a project to develop new light technology that could improve the diagnosis and treatment of disease.

The team will work to overcome current obstacles that limit how light penetrates a cell to assess its health.

Researchers believe the work could eventually have implications for the detection and treatment of conditions such as Alzheimer’s and epilepsy.

They have been given a grant of 5.6m for the project.

Their research focuses on the science of photonics – the generation and application of light – and explores how to shape or structure light at a micro and nano scale.

The team at the university’s school of physics and astronomy, led by Professor Kishan Dholakia, say the benefits of the research would not be restricted to biomedicine, but could be used in other industries.

‘Excellent advances’

Professor Dholakia said: “Our new understanding and applications of light can also impact in other areas of biology and medicine such as the emergent field of optogenetics.

“Optogenetics is the science of controlling events in targeted cells using light alone, which has immense promise in relation to neuroscience, eg to understand conditions such as epilepsy and control Alzheimer’s disease.”

Continued here:
Light technique to target disease

Public release date: 17-Apr-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Kevin Mayhood kevin.mayhood@case.edu 216-368-4442 Case Western Reserve University

Medicine-toting nanochains slip into tumors and explode a chemotherapy drug into hard-to-reach cores of cancer, engineers and scientists at Case Western Reserve University report.

In tests on rats and mice, the technology took out far more cancer cells, inhibited tumor growth better and extended life longer than traditional chemotherapy delivery.

All the while, the targeted delivery system used far less of the drug doxorubicin than the amount used in traditional chemotherapy, saving healthy tissue from toxic exposure.

The new delivery system and results are described in the online edition of The American Chemical Society journal ACS Nano at http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nn300652p.

“Other nanotechnology has been used to get a drug inside a tumor, but once the drug gets in the door, it stays by the door, missing most of the building,” said Efstathios Karathanasis, a biomedical engineering professor and leader of the research team. “We used a different kind of nanotechnology to smuggle the drug inside the tumor and to explode the bomb, releasing the drug in its free form to spread throughout the entire tumor.”

The key to the new delivery system is the tail on the doxorubicin bomb.

Karathanasis’ team took magnetic nanoparticles made of iron oxide and modified the surfaces so that one would link to the next, much like Lego building blocks.

They linked three together and chemically linked a liposome sphere filled with the drug.

Continue reading here:
Good vibrations in fight against cancer