The Nano
World
Learning Outcomes:
At the end of this chapter, the students should be able to:
1. Define the major potential and realized impacts of
nanotechnology on society;
2. Analyze nanotechnology through the conceptual STS lenses;
and
3. Examine the cost and benefits to society of nanotechnology.
Introduction
In the pursuit of science and
technology, humans are now dealing
more and more with a world not seen
by the naked eye. This is no surprise
as the study of science keeps leading
us beyond the world of everyday. The
information we search for is always
available in nature but we need tools
to harvest it. The nano world, like the
other scientific principles, provides
both knowledge and instrument to
control nature.
Why Nano?
The term "nano” refers to a unit meaning one billionth
or ten raised to negative nine(). For example, a
nanometer is one billionth of a meter. Hence, “nano”
expresses a very tiny amount or size .
Nanoscale
Human hair
compared to
particles
Nanostructures
• Nanostructures can be found in nature.
Catalysts, minerals, and other particles are
measured on a nano scale. Nanoscience deals
with materials that are very small using
specialized microscopes and other nanodevices.
Without the microscope and its attendant
technology, people would not even be aware of
how this tiny world surrounds and affects us.
Nanotechnology
• Nanotechnology refers to the manipulation
of matter on an atomic or subatomic scale.
Some innovations developed in this field
include microprocessors and strain-resistant
fabrics, more breakthroughs are expected to
arise in the different fields of science,
hopefully resolving problems in health,
environment, and security, among others.
Gene
Therapy
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this chapter, the students should be able to:
1.Describe gene therapy and its various forms;
2.Discuss the prevalence of gene therapy in daily life; and
3. Explore the opportunities that may be opened by gene therapy in the future.
Introduction
This chapter will now focus on the
developments in the nano world as applied
to the animate or the living. When
identifying the contribution of technology to
biology, the first place to look would be the
field of human health. The whole vast
concerns of human health including aging,
disease treatment and prevention, and diet
and general lifestyle have greatly benefited
from technology.
Medicine
• Medicine is one example of a scientific and
technological innovation that made a breakthrough in
the area of human health. Before aspirin was ever
understood at the nano level, it had been known for its
effects. Pain of various forms would be relieved and
softened by this medicine. The aspirin was already
“old” technology at the beginning of the 21 st century.
Size of an
aspirin
molecule
Gene Therapy
The more recent findings in the areas of nano and gene science can be
incorporated to medicine. If new discoveries on the areas of molecular and
atomic physics are applied to the biological basic building blocks- the
genes-even greater technologies for human health may be found. Suppose
scientists would like to fashion a gene to counter cancer cell growth. After
several steps of developing the technology, its success would still depend
on its science and implementation.
To achieve the goal, the harmful gene has to be found among 46 such
structures in the ordinary cells of the person. The specific part of that gene
doing the problem should be identified. Afterwards, that section of the
gene must be removed and replaced with the “correct” or developed gene
part to complete the therapy. This process would then correct the
misinformation encoded in the whole game.
Wha t w e s h ou l d
know a b ou t s t e m
c e ll t re at m e n t i n
the PH
Totel de Jesus
MANILA, Philippines- In recent years, it’s
common to hear beauty doctors in the
Philippines offering stem cell therapy as if it
is a new found medical fountain of youth,
the answer to all medical worries. In various
media platforms, there are bombardment of
advertisements form various hospitals and
clinics packaging stem cell therapy as “cure
all” remedy. With such medical
breakthrough, it begs the question on how
equipped we are in offering such services.
We can’t help to ask the parameter on
distinguishing the real experts from
seemingly fly-by-night clinics and medical
centers.
“Th
the eg
Filipino-American doctor-lawyer rap oal
Samuel Bernal, an expert in the fields of an t y is of s
i -a g n o tem
regenerative medicine and regulatory cell ing ta -ce
law, said the public should take a lot of try the prog onge ll l
precautions.
i n g ra p ram vity
t o a y is . S -
llow act t em
hea u
l i ts t he b a l l y
el f ody
“Be careful . Number “. to
one, stem-cell
therapy is not a
‘cure-all’(medical
procedure).” He said in an interview with the INQUIRER a few
weeks after receiving the 2012 Presidential Award
for Filipino Individuals and Organizations
Overseas at the Malacañang Palace.
Educated at Johns Hopkins’ and Harvard Medical School, Dr.
Bernal is currently Professor Emeritus of Medicine at the
University of California-Los Angeles, member of American
Association of Clinical Oncologists, the American
Association of Cancer Researchers, and a recognized cancer
investigator with the US National Institutes of Health. As a
lawyer, his legal expertise includes cases on medical
malpractice, medical product liability, as well as Federal
Drug Administration (FDA)and Federal Trade Commission’s
(FTC)regulations in the testing, approval, advertising, and
marketing of health products. He explained stem cell
treatment requires “analyzing at the molecular level what is
causing the problem or (what could be done)to prevent the
problem.”
“Stem cells are just a small part of the molecular approach to
medicine”
THANK YOU.
