Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology has the potential to affect our freedom, privacy, health and safety in both positive and negative ways. David Guston, director of ASU's Center for Nanotechnology in Society, talks about social concerns related to nanotech and how we can address them. --by Joe Kullman

"Smart" nanomaterials allow scientists to investigate biological interactions within the body's cells at the molecular level. This could lead to new diagnostic tools and customized therapy and prevention. (part 3 of 3) --by Joe Kullman

The world can get fantastically bizarre when you wander mentally out to the edge of the theoretical dimensions of physics. In fact, thinking about the nanoscale universe is mind bending. (part 2 of 3) --by Joe Kullman

Nanotechnology is a world of the minuscule. By manipulating matter at atomic and molecular levels, scientists have the potential to radically change consumer technology, health care, energy, and national security.
(Part 1 of 3) --by Joe Kullman

ASU researchers create intricate structures on a scale almost unfathomably small. Their building material is the DNA molecule, which offers nearly limitless construction potential. --by Richard Harth

Personalized medicine based on your unique genetic makeup may soon be a reality. New technology could reduce the cost and speed of sequencing the entire human genome to $1,000 in 24 hours. --by Joe Caspermeyer

Nanotechnology researchers can be limited by the amount of raw materials available to build atomic scale structures. One ASU researcher is avoiding these pitfalls by using cells as factories to make DNA-based nanostructures.--by Joe Caspermeyer

Butterfly wings, peacock feathers, opals and pearls are some of nature's jewels that use nanostructures to dazzle us with color. It's accomplished through the way light reaches our eyes after passing through the submicroscopic mazes within these materials. Now, a group of researchers has found a simple method for creating this effect. --by Joe Kullman

How many products contain nanoparticles? More than you might realize. Nanomaterials are present in everthing from bicycle parts to vitamin supplements. --by Melissa Crytzer Fry

Daphnia eat algae, and fish eat daphnia. Big fish eat the little fish, and people eat the big fish. If there are pollutants in the water, they can build up with each successive meal. The process is called bioaccumulation. ASU researchers want to know if nanomaterials are subject to this buildup. --by Melissa Crytzer Fry