The Nano World

Topic: Nanotechnology

Learning outcomes:
1. Discuss the major impacts (both potential and realized} of nanotechnology on society
2. Analyze the issue through the conceptual STS lenses
3. Critique the issue on its costs and benefits to society

Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology utilizes the unique properties of nanomaterials which has at least one
dimensional size of a material between 1 nm to 100 nm to produce nanoscale devices,
components, and systems. Applications utilizing nanotechnology includes manufacturing
various products, measuring, imaging and manipulating matter on the nanoscale.
Nanotechnology is of considerable interest by scientists in the fields of nanocomposites,
biocomposites, optical, biomedical, and electronic manufacturing. Nanoparticles are currently
being developed fervently, and one novel application includes polymer based composite
materials used in the aircraft and wind industries Nanoscale materials can be different in
properties compared to bulk materials for two reasons:
1. Nano-scaled particles have relatively larger surface area per unit mass which is the
critical factor to increase mechanical modulus and other physical and chemical
properties.
2. Basic material properties are changed at nanoscale due to the dominance of quantum
effects and lesser imperfections

Nanoparticles Existing in the Environment

 Examples of Nanomaterials and their Applications
1. Semiconductors on the nanoscale. Semiconductor particles with diameters from 1 to
10 nm are called quantum dots. Making quantum dots is most easily accomplished
using chemical reactions in solution. For example, to make CdS, you can mix Cd(NO 3)2
and Na2S in water with a negatively charged polymer to the water (such as
polyphosphate, –(OPO2)n–). Quantum dots are being explored for applications ranging
from electronics to lasers to medical imaging because they are very bright, very stable,
and small enough to be taken up by living cells even after being coated with a
biocompatible surface layer.

2. Metals on the nanoscale. People have known for hundreds of years that metals are
different when they are very finely divided. Dating back to the middle ages, the makers
of stained-glass windows knew that gold dispersed in molten glass made the glass a
beautiful deep red. Much later, in 1857, Michael Faraday reported that dispersions of
small gold particles could be made stable and were deeply colored. At nanoscale
dimensions, silver has properties analogous to those of gold in its beautiful colors,
although it is more reactive than gold. Currently, there is great interest in research
laboratories around the world in taking advantage of the unusual optical properties of
metal nanoparticles for applications in biomedical imaging and chemical detection.

3. Carbon on the nanoscale. Over the past three decades, scientists have discovered
that carbon can form discrete molecules, one-dimensional nanoscale tubes, and two-
dimensional nanoscale sheets. Each of these forms of carbon shows very interesting
properties. In 1985, however, a group of researchers led by Richard Smalley and
Robert Curl of Rice University and Harry Kroto of the University of Sussex, England
discovered buckminsterfullerene, nearly spherical C60 molecules. Since the discovery
 of C60, other related molecules made of pure carbon have been discovered. These
molecules are now known as fullerenes. The smallest possible fullerene, C20, was first
detected in 2000. Because fullerenes are molecules, they dissolve in various organic
solvents, whereas diamond and graphite do not. This solubility permits fullerenes to be
separated from the other components of soot and even from one another. It also allows
the study of their reactions in solution.
Soon after the discovery of C60, chemists discovered carbon nanotubes. They
can be made in either multiwall or single-walled forms. Multiwall carbon nanotubes
consist of tubes within tubes, nested together, whereas single-walled carbon nanotubes
consist of single tubes. Depending on the diameter of the graphite sheet and how it is
rolled up, carbon nanotubes can behave as either semiconductors or metals.
The fact that carbon nanotubes can be made either semiconducting or metallic
without any doping is unique among solid-state materials, and laboratories worldwide
are making and testing carbon-based electronic devices. Carbon nanotubes are also
being explored for their mechanical properties. The carbon–carbon bonded framework of
the nanotubes means that the imperfections that might appear in a metal nanowire of
similar dimensions are nearly absent. Experiments on individual carbon nanotubes
suggest that they are stronger than steel, if steel were the dimensions of a carbon
nanotube. Carbon nanotubes have been spun into fibers with polymers, adding great
strength and toughness to the composite material.
The two-dimensional form of carbon, graphene, is the most recent low-
dimensional form of carbon to be experimentally isolated and studied. It is very strong
and has a record thermal conductivity, topping carbon nanotubes in both categories.
Graphene is a semimetal, which means its electronic structure is like that of a
semiconductor in which the energy gap is exactly zero. The combination of graphene’s
two-dimensional character and the fact that it is a semimetal allows the electrons to
travel very long distances, up to 0.3 μm, without scattering from another electron, atom,
or impurity. Graphene can sustain electrical current densities six orders of magnitude
higher than those sustainable in copper. Even though it is only one atom thick, graphene
can absorb 2.3% of sunlight that strikes it. Scientists are currently exploring ways to
incorporate graphene in various technologies including electronics, sensors, batteries,
and solar cells.

Benefits from Nanotechnology

1. Lower energy consumption: The use of graphene into a coating material resulting in
the need for only one layer, which does not require a multifunctional film coating. Two
applications for a graphene based coating are to apply it to a blade used in wind turbines
or on the body of an airplane. It saves the weight increasing efficiency.

2. Cost saving on materials: An alternative energy method such as hybrid automobiles

will decrease the price by novel developments in nanotechnology.

3. Less waste on raw materials: Large sample testing will be done on a smaller scale and
simultaneously use of raw materials will become more efficiency. Nanoscale chemical
reagents (or catalysts) increase the reaction rate and other efficiency of chemical
reactions.
4. Environmental monitoring and protection: Utilizing advanced nanotechnology, a
detector was made to detect a nuclear leak faster and more accurate at the Fukushima
Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Which is one of the best radiation detector in Washington
and can sense the faintest amount of radiation9 .

5. Biological applications: Developing ultra-small probes on planetary surfaces for

agricultural applications and control of soil, air, and water contamination.

6. Biomedical applications: This includes the medical diagnostic and treatments.

Positive Effects of Nanotechnology on the Environment

1. Cleaner, more efficient industrial processes
2. Improved ability to detect and eliminate pollution by improving air, water, and soil quality
3. High precision manufacturing by reducing amount of waste
4. Clean abundant power via more efficient solar cells
5. Removal of greenhouse gases and other pollutants from the atmosphere
6. Decreased need for large industrial plants
7. Remediating environmental damages

Negative Effects of Nanotechnology on the Environment

1. High energy requirements for synthesizing nanoparticles causing high energy demand
2. Dissemination of toxic, persistent nano-substances originating environmental harm
3. Lower recovery and recycling rates
4. Environmental implications of other life cycle stages also not clear
5. Lack of trained engineers and workers causing further concerns
 Gene Therapy
Topic: Gene therapy and stem cells

Learning outcomes:
1. Describe gene therapy and its various forms
2. Assess the issue’s potential benefits and detriments to global health

Gene Therapy
Gene therapy is a therapeutic technique that aims to transfer normal genes into a
patient’s cells. In theory, the normal genes will be transcribed and translated into functional
gene products, which, in turn, will bring about a normal phenotype.
Human gene therapy began in 1990 with the treatment of a young girl named Ashanti
DeSilva, who has a heritable disorder called severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID).
Individuals with SCID have no functional immune system and usually die from what would
normally be minor infections. Ashanti has an autosomal form of SCID caused by a mutation in
the gene encoding the enzyme adenosine deaminase (ADA). Her gene therapy began when
clinicians isolated some of her white blood cells, called T cells. These cells, which are key
components of the immune system, were mixed with a retroviral vector carrying an inserted
copy of the normal ADA gene. The virus infected many of the T cells, and a normal copy of the
ADA gene was inserted into the genome of some T cells. After being mixed with the vector, the
T cells were grown in the laboratory and analyzed to make sure that the transferred ADA gene
was expressed. Then a billion or so genetically altered T cells were injected into Ashanti’s
bloodstream. Some of these T cells migrated to her bone marrow and began dividing and
producing daughter cells that also produce ADA. She now has ADA protein expression in 25 to
30 percent of her T cells, which is enough to allow her to lead a normal life.
Although gene therapy was originally developed as a treatment for single-gene inherited
diseases, the technique was quickly adapted for the treatment of acquired diseases such as
cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular disease, and infectious diseases, such as
HIV. Over a 10-year period, from 1990 to 1999, more than 4000 people underwent gene
therapy for a variety of genetic disorders. These trials often failed and thus led to a loss of
confidence in gene therapy.
Hopes for gene therapy plummeted even further in September 1999 when teenager
Jesse Gelsinger died while undergoing gene therapy to treat a liver disease condition. His
death was triggered by a massive inflammatory response to the vector, a modified adenovirus,
one of the viruses that cause colds and respiratory infections. Within hours of his first
treatment, a massive immune reaction surged through Jesse’s body. He developed a high fever,
his lungs filled with fluid, multiple organs shut down, and he died four days later of acute
respiratory failure.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, several government and scientific inquiries were
conducted. Investigators learned that clinical trial scientists had not reported other adverse
reactions to gene therapy and that some of the scientists were affiliated with private companies
that could benefit financially from the trials. They found that serious side effects seen in animal
studies were not explained to patients during informed-consent discussions, and that some
clinical trials were proceeding too quickly in the face of data suggesting a need for caution. The
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) scrutinized gene therapy trials across the country,
halted a number of them, and shut down several gene therapy programs. Other research
groups voluntarily suspended their gene therapy studies. Tighter restrictions on clinical trial
protocols were imposed to correct some of the procedural problems that emerged from the
Gelsinger case. Jesse’s death had dealt a severe blow to the struggling field of gene therapy—
a blow from which it was still reeling when a second tragedy hit.
The outlook for gene therapy brightened in 2000, when a group of French researchers
reported the first large-scale success in gene therapy. Nine children with a fatal X-linked form of
SCID developed functional immune systems after being treated with a retroviral vector carrying
a normal gene. Published reports of the study were greeted with enthusiasm by the gene
therapy community. But elation turned to despair in 2003, when it became clear that 2 of the 10
children who had been cured of X-SCID had developed leukemia as a direct result of their
therapy, and one died as a result of the treatment. In two of the children, their cancer cells
contained the retroviral vector, inserted near or into a gene called LMO2. This insertion
activated the LMO2 gene, causing uncontrolled white blood cell proliferation and development
of leukemia. FDA immediately halted 27 similar gene therapy clinical trials, and once again gene
therapy underwent a profound reassessment. In 2005, a third child in the French X-SCID study
developed leukemia, likely as a result of gene therapy.
To date, no human gene therapy product has been approved for sale. Critics of gene
therapy continue to berate research groups for undue haste, conflicts of interest, and sloppy
clinical trial management, and for promising much but delivering little. Most problems associated
with gene therapy have been traced to the vectors used to transfer therapeutic genes into cells.

Types of Gene Therapy

A. According to the way that healing genes are delivered and to which cells they are
sent
1. Germline gene therapy alters the DNA of a gamete or fertilized ovum. As a result, all
cells of the individual have the change. Germline gene therapy is heritable—it passes to
offspring.
2. Somatic gene therapy corrects only the cells that an illness affects. It is non-heritable; a
recipient does not pass the genetic correction to offspring.
B. According to invasiveness
1. Ex vivo gene therapy is when cells are altered outside the body and then infused.
2. In situ gene therapy is when the functional gene plus the DNA that delivers it (the
vector) are injected into a very localized and accessible body part.
3. In vivo gene therapy is when the gene and vector are introduced directly into the body.

Stem Cell Gene Therapy

Bodies grow and heal thanks to cells that retain the ability to divide, generating both new
cells like themselves and cells that go on to specialize. Stem cells renew tissues so that as the
body grows, or loses cells to apoptosis, injury, and disease, other cells are produced that take
their places.
A stem cell divides by mitosis to yield either two daughter cells that are stem cells like
itself, or one that is a stem cell and one that is a partially specialized progenitor cell. The
characteristic of self-renewal is what makes a stem cell a stem cell—its ability to continue the
lineage of cells that can divide to give rise to another cell like itself. Our more than 260
differentiated cell types develop from lineages of stem and progenitor cells.
 A fertilized ovum is the ultimate stem cell. It is totipotent, which means that it can give
rise to every cell type, including the cells of the membranes that support the embryo. Other stem
cells and progenitor cells are pluripotent: Their daughter cells have fewer possible fates. Some
are multipotent: Their daughter cells have only a few developmental “choices.”
As stem cell descendants specialize, they express some genes and ignore others. All
cells, however, synthesize proteins for basic “housekeeping” functions, such as energy
acquisition and protein synthesis.
Many, if not all, of the organs in an adult human body have stem or progenitor cells.
These cells can divide when injury or illness occurs and generate new cells to replace damaged
ones. Stem cells in the adult may have been set aside in the embryo or fetus in particular
organs as repositories of future healing. Evidence suggests that some stem cells, such as those
from bone marrow, can travel to and replace damaged or dead cells elsewhere in the body, in
response to signals that are released in injury or disease. Because every cell contains all of an
individual’s genetic material, any cell type, given appropriate signals, can in theory become any
other. This concept is the basis of much of stem cell technology.

Stem Cell Sources

1. Embryonic stem (ES) cells are not actually cells from an embryo, but are created in a
laboratory dish using certain cells from a region of a very early embryo called an inner
cell mass (ICM). Some ICM cells, under certain conditions, become pluripotent and can
self-renew—they are stem cells. The ICM cells used to derive ES cells can come from
two sources: “leftover” embryos from fertility clinics that would otherwise be destroyed,
and from nuclear transfer, in which a nucleus from a person’s somatic cell is transferred
to an egg cell that has had its own nucleus removed.

2. Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are somatic cells that are “reprogrammed” to
differentiate into any of several cell types. This change may require a journey back
through developmental time to an ES cell-like state, then to specialize anew as a
different, desired cell type. Or, cells can be reprogrammed directly into another cell type.
Deriving iPS cells does not require the use of any cells from an embryo.

3. Adult or tissue-specific or somatic stem cells are found in the tissues of fetuses,
embryos and children, and not just in adult bodies. Adult stem cells self-renew, but most
are multipotent, giving rise to a few types of specialized daughter cells. Many potentially
valuable adult stem cells are routinely discarded as medical waste.

Stem Cell Applications

1. Drug discovery and development. Stem cell cultures supply the human cells that are
affected in a particular disease, which may be difficult or impossible to culture. Drugs are
tested on these cells. Using stem cells in drug development can minimize the need to
experiment on animals and can weed out drugs with adverse effects before they are
tested on people.

2. Observation for the earliest signs of a disease. Diseases may begin long before
symptoms appear in a person. Researchers are now observing the beginnings of
hundreds of diseases—and discovering new ways to treat them.
 3. Implants and transplants for treatments. This approach is not new—the oldest such
treatment, a bone marrow transplant, has been around for more than half a century.
Many other uses of adult stem cells, delivered as implants, transplants, or simply
infusions into the bloodstream, are being tested.

4. Reprogramming proteins directly into the body to stimulate stem cells in their
natural niches. Once we understand the signals, we might not need the cells. The
applications of stem cells seem limited only by our imaginations.

Gene Therapy Concerns

Scientific Concerns
1. Which cells should be treated, and how?
2. What proportion of the targeted cell population must be corrected to alleviate or halt
progression of symptoms?
3. Is overexpression of the therapeutic gene dangerous?
4. Is it dangerous if the altered gene enters cells other than the intended ones?
5. How long will the affected cells function?
6. Will the immune system attack the introduced cells?
7. Is the targeted DNA sequence in more than one gene?
8. How can the activity of the transferred gene be controlled so that cells make appropriate
amounts of the gene product at the right time and in the right place?
9. How can we be sure that the insertion of the therapeutic gene does not harm some other
necessary cell function?
10. What is the proper route for gene delivery in different kinds of disorders? For example,
what is the best way to treat brain or muscle tissues?
11. What percentage of cells in an organ or tissue need to express a therapeutic gene to
alleviate the effects of a genetic disorder?
12. What amount of a therapeutic gene product must be produced to provide lasting
improvement of the condition, and how can sufficient production be ensured?
13. Will it be possible to use gene therapy to treat diseases that involve multiple genes?
14. Can expression of therapeutic genes be controlled in a patient?

Ethical Concerns
1. Does the participant in a gene therapy trial truly understand the risks?
2. If a gene therapy is effective, how will recipients be selected, assuming it is expensive at
first?
3. Should rare or more common disorders be the focus of gene therapy research and
clinical trials?
4. What effect should deaths among volunteers have on research efforts?
5. Should clinical trials be halted if the delivered gene enters the germline?
6. Is there a difference between the transplantation of genes into somatic cells and the
transplantation of organs?
7. Under what circumstances, if any, should we alter the genomes of human germ lines?
8. Would germline therapy inevitably lead to the practice of eugenics, a deliberate effort to
control the genetic makeup of human populations?
9. How can the “good” and the “bad” uses of gene therapy be distinguished?
10. Who decides which traits are normal and which constitute a disability and disorder?
 11. Will the high costs of gene therapy make it available only to the wealthy?
12. Could the widespread use of gene therapy make society less accepting of people who
are different?
13. Should people be allowed to use gene therapy to enhance basic human traits?
14. We have the technologies to test for genetic diseases for which there are no effective
treatments. Should we test people for these disorders?
15. With present genetic testing technologies, a negative result does not necessarily rule out
future development of a disease; nor does a positive result always mean that an
individual will get the disease. How can we effectively communicate the results of testing
and the actual risks to those being tested?
16. What information should people have before deciding to have a genome scan or a
genetic test for a single disorder?
17. How can we protect the information revealed by such tests?
18. Since sharing of patient data through electronic medical records is a significant concern,
what issues of consent need to be considered?
How can we define and prevent genetic discrimination