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Mad cow disease is a fatal neurodegenerative condition in cattle that is related to the human form of a disease that has caused the deaths of nearly 200 people worldwide. Currently, testing for this disease in cattle is a lengthy process that only occasionally results in a correct diagnosis.
With funding from USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) National Research Initiative (NRI), scientists in New York created a new device that may provide a faster, easier, and more reliable way to test for mad cow disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
This new tool targets prions, which are the cause of BSE. Prions are abnormally structured proteins that convert normal proteins into an abnormal form. Prions are responsible for forms of the neurodegenerative diseases, such as BSE in cattle, scrapie in sheep, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. If often takes years before the symptoms arise that indicate the disease is present.
There are no rapid tests available to test for the presence of prions in cattle.
The only test currently available for BSE involves multiple steps, requires sacrificing an animal host, and takes time. The process requires infecting an animal with a patient's blood. Then, after a several month incubation period, the animal is sacrificed and scientists look for prions during the animal's autopsy. This method produces the correct diagnosis only 31 percent of the time.
A better method of prion detection is necessary to allay public fears, ensure the safety of the nation's food supply, and enhance international trade.
Harold Craighead and colleagues at Cornell University have developed nanoscale resonators, which are tiny devices that function like tuning forks by changing pitch with increased mass.
Craighead's group, in collaboration with Richard Montagna at Innovative Biotechnologies International, Inc., modeled the device after a similar idea used to detect bacterial pathogens. When prions bind to the resonator's silicon sensor, it changes the vibrational resonant frequency of the device. In experimental trials, the sensor detected prions at concentrations as low as two nanograms per milliliter, the smallest levels measured to date.
Currently, the resonator only detects prions in a saline solution. Efforts are now underway to use the resonator to detect prions in more complex solutions, such as blood.
"The real challenge is going to be to build an automated device that can take blood from a cow in the field and give a rapid response as to whether prions are present," Craighead said. "At the moment we only test cows when they fall over, but that is a late stage of the disease. It would be ideal to test cows a lot earlier. Resonators could be one path to doing this."
Scientists hope the new device will soon be used to detect prions in food items to ensure food safety and quality for the national food supply.
CSREES funded this research project through the NRI Nanoscale Science and Engineering for Agriculture and Food Systems program. Through federal funding and leadership for research, education and extension programs, CSREES focuses on investing in science and solving critical issues impacting people's daily lives and the nation's future. For more information, visit csrees.usda.gov.

Aligarh, Oct 9 (IANS) The Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) will set up a state-of-the-art Nanotechnology centre to facilitate advanced research and studies in material sciences, a university official said Thursday.
'For setting up the centre, the Department of Science and Technology (DST), governed by the Government of India has just allocated over Rs.24 million,' AMU spokesperson Rahat Abrar told IANS.
'At present, there are only 20 seats in the Nanotechnology course which is being offered by AMU at the postgraduate level. With the setting up of the centre, the varsity would be able to enrol more students in the course,' Abrar added.
Nanotechnology, the science of understanding the structure and behaviour of materials at atomic or molecular level, is an emerging field across the globe, varsity officials said.

I have to admit that I saw this tidbit a week or two ago over at Nanodot and found it to be so outlandish that I thought it fell into too-ridiculous-to-comment category.
But people kept sending me the links to the news story usually accompanied with some slack-jawed, bewildered comment.
It is bewildering. First, who is this Des Moines, IA-based Continental Western Insurance Group? I have never heard of the insurer, but I am not a Midwest farm. If someone would like to enlighten me as to the nanoparticle producers they currently insure (or should I say, used to insure), I would welcome the information.
Second, excluding “nanotechnology”?! Okay, you could make some poorly informed, taking hearsay over science decision that nanoparticles, or even more precisely carbon nanotubes, have exhibited some similarities to asbestos, albeit with research still inconclusive. But nanotechnology?
What is that supposed to be exactly? Will that include STMs and AFMs, key tools in nanotechnology? Will that include the GMR effect used in your computer so you can store 100 gigabytes of family photos?
I have to commend the Nanobusiness Alliance in being extremely restrained in their response:
We believe the decision to exclude “nanotubes and nanotechnology” was not well thought out. Treating nanotechnology as if it is monolithic makes no sense. A technology itself does not have risks and benefits — only the embodiments of the technology in the form of products do. Furthermore, the definitions were sufficiently broad that almost any business to be subject to the exclusion. This is the first exclusion. We hope that it will be reconsidered or pulled back altogether once the insurer understands the implications of the general-purpose exclusion they created. But, we must also educate insurers so that they do not make ill informed policy like this in the future.
The Nanobusiness Alliance is absolutely correct and at the same time generous to a fault. Instead, I am afraid this is just a further example of how just a small seed of misinformation can lead to dangerous stupidity.
The question I can’t seem to resolve is what was the point of the announcement? I keep pondering what possible purpose it served: giving notice to the Midwest nanoparticle industry to not knock on Continental Western’s door when looking for a policy? Or demonstrating what a forward thinking, risk adverse trailblazer the company is to its current customers?
If it’s the former, well I am not sure that they are turning away much business, and the little that they are will find the insurance they need. If it was the latter, it probably would be a safe bet that the current customers probably didn’t know about nanotechnology never mind care about its toxicological issues.
Bewildering, indeed.

Nanotechnologies can be used to develop sustainable energy systems while reducing the harmful effects of fossil fuels as they are gradually phased out over the next century. This optimistic scenario is coming closer to reality as new technologies such as biomimetics and Dye Sensitized solar Cells (DSCs) emerge with great promise for capturing or storing solar energy, and nanocatalysis develops efficient catalysts for energy-saving industrial processes. Europe is ready to accelerate development of these technologies, as delegates heard at a recent conference, Nanotechnology for Sustainable Energy, organised by the European Science Foundation (ESF) in partnership with Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung in Österreich (FWF) and the Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck (LFUI).
The conference focused on solar rather than other sustainable energy sources such as wind, because that is where nanotechnology is most applicable and also because solar energy conversion holds the greatest promise as a long-term replacement of fossil fuels. Solar energy can be harvested directly to generate electricity or to yield fuels such as hydrogen for use in engines. Such fuels can also in turn be used indirectly to generate electricity in conventional power stations.
“The potential of solar power is much, much larger in absolute numbers than that of wind,” said Professor Bengt Kasemo from Chalmers University of Technology and the chair of the ESF conference. However, like wind, the potential of solar power generation varies greatly across time and geography, being confined to the daytime and less suitable for regions in higher latitudes, such as Scandinavia and Siberia. For this reason there is growing interest in the idea of a global electricity grid according to Kasemo.
“If solar energy is harvested where it is most abundant, and distributed on a global net (easy to say – and a hard but not impossible task to do) it will be enough to replace a large fraction of today’s fossil-based electricity generation,” said Kasemo. “It also would solve the day/night problem and therefore reduce storage needs because the sun always shines somewhere.”
In the immediate future, solid state technologies based on silicon are likely to predominate the production (manufacture) of solar cells, but DSC and other “runners ups” are likely to lower costs in the long term, using cheaper semiconductor materials to produce robust flexible sheets strong enough to resist buffeting from hail for example. Although less efficient than the very best silicon or thin film cells using current technology, their better price/performance has led the European Union to predict that DSCs will be a significant contributor to renewable energy production in Europe by 2020.
The DSC was invented by Michael Grätzel, one of the speakers and vice chair at the ESF conference. The key point to emerge from the ESF conference, though, is that there will be growing choice and competition between emerging nanotechnology-based solar conversion technologies. “I think the important fact is that there is strong competition and that installed solar power is growing very rapidly, albeit from a small base,” said Kasemo.”This will push prices down and make solar electricity more and more competitive.”
Some of the most exciting of these alternatives lie in the field of biomimetics, which involves mimicking processes that have been perfected in biological organisms through eons of evolution. Plants and a class of bacteria, cyanobacteria, have evolved photosynthesis, involving the harvesting of light and the splitting of water into electrons and protons to provide a stream of energy that in turn produces the key molecules of life. Photosynthesis can potentially be harnessed either in genetically-engineered organisms, or completely artificial human-made systems that mimic the processes, to produce carbon-free fuels such as hydrogen. Alternatively, photosynthesis could be tweaked to produce fuels such as alcohol or even hydrocarbons that do contain carbon molecules but recycle them from the atmosphere and therefore make no net contribution to carbon dioxide levels above ground.
Biomimetics could also solve the longstanding problem of how to store large amounts of electricity efficiently. This could finally open the floodgates for electrically-powered vehicles by enabling them at last to match the performance and range of their petrol or diesel-based counterparts. One highlight of the ESF conference was a presentation by Angela Belcher, who played a major role in pioneering nanowires made from viruses at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US. Bizarre as it sounds, there is a type of virus that infects E.coli bacteria (a bacteriophage) capable of coating itself in electrically-conducting materials such as gold. This can be used to build compact high capacity batteries, with the added advantage that it can potentially assemble itself, exploiting the natural replicating ability of the virus. The key to the high capacity in small space lies in the microscopic size of the nanowires constructed by the viruses – this means that a greater surface area of charge carrying capacity can be packed into a given volume.
However, commercial realisation of biomimetic and other emerging technologies lies far in the future. But meantime, as delegates heard from several speakers at the ESF conference, nanotechnology has an important contribution to make, improving the efficiency of existing energy-generating systems during the transition from fossil fuels. For example, Robert Schlögl outlined how nano-scale catalysts can be used to improve the efficiency of engines or systems consuming fossil fuels.
Inspired by such presentations, delegates at the conference were unanimous in calling for a follow up. “The conference was regarded as a real success and a new proposal for a conference in 2010 (chaired by Grätzel) will soon be submitted,” said Kasemo. “In particular the conference inspired and educated young people, such as doctors, students, postdocs, young researchers, who will be the ones to realise the potential of nanotechnology for sustainable energy.”
The ESF-FWF conference in Partnership with LFUI on NANOTECHNOLOGY FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY was held at the Universitätszentrum Obergurgl, near Innsbruck in Austria during June 2008.
Media contact: Mr. Thomas LauE-Mail - http://www.esf.org/contact/contacts-email-form/cid/167927.html
Science contact: Professor Bengt KasemoE-Mail - http://www.esf.org/contact/contacts-email-form/cid/16152.html

Davao City (8 October) -- Despite the many benefits of nanotechnology on electronics, medicines, and foods, a non-government organization is now seeing the pains such technology could bring.
In the field of nano agriculture, it is believed that it could hurt small-scale farmers who supply the world with small-scale raw materials.
ETC Group or the Action Group on Erosion, Technology, and Concentration executive director Pat Mooney, in his briefing with members of the Davao media, Mooney shared the impacts it could cause the world especially those in the Third World.
With the advent of nanotechnology or the manipulation of matter at the level of atoms and molecules, ETC has seen how such technology would change every step of the food chain as well as the people involved in the process.
Mooney explained that the highly-developed countries lead the world market, however, they still recognize and get raw materials from other countries like the Third World.
But with nanotechnology, where the power and manipulation is at the hands of the scientifically-advanced, the group is seeing a rapid change in the world's economy.
The expert disclosed Kraft Foods' move of coming up with a product that would automatically change clear water to any kind of drink like soda, coffee, or tea in just a matter of click on the microwave machine.
"This product will soon flood the grocery stores and would eventually kill all other beverage products as well as the farmers who provide the raw materials," he said.
ETC is now mindful on the world's $3 trillion food retail market, agricultural export markets valued at $544 billion, and the livelihood of some 2.6 billion farming people.
It is believed that the poor and marginalized are seldom in a position to foresee or adjust quickly to abrupt economic changes.
"Among the most vulnerable will be small-scale farmers and agricultural workers who produce raw commodity exports in the developing world.
Mooney visited Philippines to talk to different sectors in the community and share vital information needed by the public to prepare them for the big changes in the world market.
In the field of nano-foods, huge companies have started to invest on their research department to explore nano-scales by enhancing the taste and adding health benefits without having to add production cost.
An example cited is a beverage that claims no sugar in it but actually adds an enzyme that is capable in blocking some bitter taste buds.
He urged the government to share these information to the Filipino people and let them start preparing for the coming changes.
"The technology is moving so fast and yet our policymakers are so left behind. The people deserve to know all these," he said.
The world now estimates about 800 manufacturer-identified consumer products that use nanotechnology. These are already being sold in the world market in the absence of regulation and monitoring.
Data showed that the nanotech market for food and processing alone is estimated to be in excess of $2 billion and projected to surge to more than $20 billion by 2010. (PIA)

Holiday Creations/Diogen Lighting, Inc. and Evident Technologies, Inc. today announced the signing of an exclusive licensing and purchase agreement to enable a new type of LED to be commercialized in the seasonal light strand market in the US and Canada. The technology is centered on semiconductor nanocrystals, also known as quantum dots, and allows for never-before-seen colors and new design possibilities for the fast growing LED decorative light strand market.
"As consumers become more aware of the energy savings afforded by LED lights, they are switching from the traditional incandescent lights. The problem with current LEDs is that their color selection is limited. Imagine if you only had five colors to choose from for painting, coloring or decorating," stated John Hayes, CEO, Holiday Creations/Diogen Lighting."This new technology gives us a wide range of colors for holiday and decorative lighting. We are excited to be able to offer these colorful new products to our customers immediately for sale in retail stores beginning in 2009."
Traditional LEDs are energy efficient, but are fundamentally limited to a handful of colors like, red, blue, yellow and green. Phosphors can be used to alter the color but the color pallet is still limited. Evident's quantum dot technology removes these limitations, and enables LEDs to emit any color, including high quality white light. Dotstrand™ Energy Efficient Lights are colorful strands utilizing these quantum dot LEDs and are distinctive for their attractive retail packaging design.
"We chose Holiday Creations (holidaycreations.com) as our partner for this technology because they are a progressive, forward-thinking, market leader with an established track record. We are eager to see their new line of light strand products and the dotstrandTM brand in US and Canadian retail stores," said Clint Ballinger, CEO Evident Technologies.

Strange as it may seem today, Baby Boomers grew up marveling at plastic. They flocked to Disneyland in 1957 to see The House of the Future, a pod-shaped structure made entirely of this stuff that would change their lives. A decade later, they filled theaters to see The Graduate, a film whose most famous scene has Ben, a recent Princeton graduate, receiving career advice from Mr. McGuire, a middle-aged family friend:
Mr. McGuire: I just want to say one word to you - just one word.
Ben: Yes sir.
Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?
Ben: Yes I am.
Mr. McGuire: 'Plastics.'
Ben: Exactly how do you mean?
Mr. McGuire: There's a great future in plastics.
Today we're on the cusp of another technological change on par with plastic. Like Ben, the Ivy League graduates of today need to know one word, just one word to make it big: nanotechnology. Only, they don’t know that word. Lots of skeptical, serious people think nanotech will bring us everything from stain proof clothing, to skin cream that removes wrinkles (really), to oil drills that don’t damage the ground. Maybe, someday, even an elevator to the moon or a TV screen that rolls up like a yoga mat.
But the companies that are already doing amazing things with nanotech are intentionally hiding it.
Why?
Before I get to that, here’s a quick explanation of nanotechnology: It basically means “really small stuff.” Imagine scientists peering through a microscope at atoms and molecules. These days, they have the ability to tinker with tinier particles than ever before. It’s hard to picture an atom, so instead imagine a mosaic on a 10’ x 10’ wall. It’s as if scientists used to working only with 1’ square tiles to make their mosaic have just gotten a shipment of thousands of much smaller tiles just a couple of centimeters in width.
The counterintuitive thing about these miniscule particles is that they behave very strangely. Take silver. Silver is a natural antimicrobial. Prior to antibiotics, it was used in surgery to minimize infection. But coat a piece of Tupperware with nanosilver—technically that means silver so small that it’s at a scale of a billionth of a meter—and the silver acts differently. Not only does it kill bacteria, it has a higher level of toxicity.
So who are these companies hiding the magic of nanotech?
Ecology Coatings is one. It’s a company that makes car paint. The special thing about this paint is that, thanks to nanotechnology, it produces a fraction of the toxic waste and uses up to 99% less manufacturing energy than other coatings. It’s enough to make any CEO proud—no surprise that Ecology Coatings touted its product as “liquid nanotechnology.”
Later, however, the company hired a PR Firm that specializes in advising big companies that use nanotech. Antenna Marketing’s CEO, Melody Haller, positions these companies so that they attract the right attention from investors.
Her advice: cut out any mention of nanotechnology.
A major reason is that questions remain about nanotech's impact on the environment, consumer health and product safety. There is evidence, for example, that carbon nanotubes cause permanent, progressive lung damage when inhaled. And nanosilver (another commonly used nanoparticle) kills fish when it gets into water.
Some companies are hedging their bets by using nanotechnology without drawing attention to its presence, just in case more safety concerns, or even the perception of them, arise. After all, using "nano" in a company or product name could one day be “as injurious as a company that included the word ‘asbestos,’” says Ed Moran, Director of Product Innovation at Deloitte.
It's a major reversal.
A few years ago, plenty of companies hopped on the “nano” bandwagon, using the word in advertisements and product names. In some cases, the word "nano" was used to brand products that didn’t even contain nano-scale particles! Apparently, marketers imagined that the word would trickle into the mainstream to mean something vaguely cool, mysterious and futuristic. But those vague associations don't make for a particularly meaningful branding concept. You may have bought the iPod nano, but probably not because of its name.
Now PR folks have gone so far as to invent a new investment sector for companies that use nanotechnology: Cleantech. It’s a word meant to suggest an innovative, environmentally friendly product that won’t be associated with “nano” if it loses its good name.
For products like car paint and earth drills, which mainly don’t come into contact with the human body, that might not seem like a big deal. The problem is that nanotech is being used in plenty of products that do come into contact with the human body, and the same PR hedging is taking place there.
Take the Sharper Image. It makes the FresherLonger food storage containers and Contour-Foam Silver Slippers, both of which kill bacteria due to nanosilver. The company used to proudly advertise their use of nanosilver in their catalog and on their website, but they no longer do. The same goes for Blue Lizard sunscreen, face creams, and countless other lotions and sunscreens, which use nano-scale titanium dioxide to create opacity.
This dearth of information prevents consumers from making informed decisions about what to buy, though it is also true that few Americans know what’s good about nanotechnology, what’s bad, or why anyway. As Nature magazine notes, scientists are more concerned about the potential negative effects of this emerging technology than the public.
The future of the word "nanotechnology" depends largely on whether the government decides to regulate the industry. Companies needn't test or even disclose nano particles in their products at the moment. Business groups argue that this is as it should be: nanotechnology should be treated like any other chemical, they argue, and it would be too difficult for the EPA to require specific testing because the definition of nanotechnology is so broad. For now, they say, voluntary disclosure of any alarming findings is the best method of regulation.
Some consumer groups are taking an opposing position, arguing that regulation is needed as soon as possible. They’ve even created a regulatory agenda that could guide government oversight of nanotechnology, but they don’t expect anyone to even look at it until after a new president takes office.
In the meantime, this is a technology that, Ed Moran says, will likely go the way of electricity – integrated into most consumer goods and therefore no longer touted as an investment sector in its own right. The word “nano” in a product or company name will one day be as quaint as, for example, “General Electric,” a company that switched to GE.
Recent reports that nanoscale particles are being used in food suggest we may wind up inhabiting a world where nanotech is more ubiquitous than electricity.
When that happens, will companies that use nanotech reveal as much only when they see fit? Will the Melody Hallers and Antenna Marketing companies of the world still be the ones at the helm of the public information campaign?
Absent government mandates for greater transparency, it's very likely that advertising professionals will remain the de facto purveyors of information. To uncover what’s going on, we’ll have to sift through the muck of PR banners.
By Alex Schmidt

Rice University has leapt to the forefront of American research universities for the impact on industry of its accumulated patents, according to a company that analyzes intellectual property.
The Patent Board, a Chicago firm that ranks companies for the prowess of their properties, raised Rice to No. 1 in the "Industry Impact" category on its first public ranking of research universities.
"The results of this Patent Scorecard are very gratifying, and confirm the impression I developed over my first year regarding the work of Rice faculty," said Vice Provost for Research Jim Coleman. "My sense has been that Rice researchers are working at the cutting edge of their fields, and that their discoveries are having a large impact on technological innovation. The Patent Board's analysis confirms that impression."
To judge Rice's impact, the company gathered and analyzed references to universities and their patents in data from government and industry sources, said Christine Wren, spokeswoman for the Patent Board. The category "quantifies how influential a company's patent portfolio is on the development of technologies in other companies, compared to the rest of the industry," according to the firm's Web site.
Nanotechnology patents springing from Rice gained the most attention. The scorecard noted that while Rice has "the lowest volume of patents, they are influential, which is not surprising considering the majority is nanotechnology related." It specifically cited research into optically activated nanoshells being used in human cancer trials by Houston's NanoSpectra Biosciences Inc., a company founded on Rice technology.
"Rice has only been doing the patent game really seriously for the last decade," said Wade Adams, director of Rice University's Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, "and this is a real testimony to the inventiveness of the nanotechnology faculty and students here at Rice, as well as the aggressiveness of the university in the tech transfer office in getting the patents issued and doing it in a way that they're rated the most powerful of all the portfolios. That's a fantastic achievement."
The Patent Board has been performing such rankings for years, but decided to go public with the list for the first time this year, said Wren. The Patent Scorecard for Universities, which tracks 122 institutions, will now be published every September. She also noted the company has been supplying data to the National Science Foundation since 1972.
Contact: David Ruth druth@rice.edu 713-348-6327 Rice University

Microfluidics, a division of Microfluidics International Corporation (OTCBB: MFLU), has announced that the company's CTO and nationally renowned nanotechnology applications expert, Thomai (Mimi) Panagiotou, Ph.D, will be presenting a talk at the 2008 National Nano Engineering Conference, November 12 and 13 at the Colonnade Hotel in Boston, MA. The talk, titled "Scalable Industrial Processing of Nanomaterials Using Microfluidizer® High Shear Fluid Processors," will cover scalable and robust technologies and processes for production, deagglomeration, purification and modification of nanomaterials. In addition, Dr. Panagiotou will moderate the Nanomaterials Session of the conference. Microfluidics, which won the Nanotech Briefs® Nano50™ Technology Award at the 2007 event, will be exhibiting key products from its Microfluidizer high shear processor product line in booth #8 at this year's conference.
Dr. Panagiotou is responsible for the overall direction of Microfluidics' technology and leads the development of Microfluidics Reaction Technology (MRT), an award-winning process-intensification technology to manufacture nanosuspensions from the bottom up. She has co-authored over 60 papers for journals and conference proceedings and is the co-inventor of two patents.
Her presentation at the 2008 National Nano Engineering Conference will discuss how, for many nanotechnology applications, paramount performance can only be achieved if the nanomaterials are deagglomerated and uniformly dispersed in media such as organic solvents, polymer resins, water, etc. In addition, she will explain how Microfluidics' technologies and processes provide solutions when nanoencapsulation, particle exfoliation, mixing in the nanometer scale, and fibril formation and length reduction of fibers are desired.
Dr. Panagiotou will discuss how the heart of the Microfluidics technology is a continuous microreactor, the interaction chamber, which consists of "fixed geometry" microchannels. Flow through the chamber is characterized by high fluid velocities and subsequent impingement of fluid jets to the chamber walls or to one another. This results in the generation of high intensity shear fields, and energy dissipation mechanisms such as turbulence are activated in the microliter-size volumes of the chamber. Under these conditions, mixing of fluids takes place at the nanometer scale, and solid agglomerates disperse or break to give submicron particles.
Microfluidics high shear fluid processors are used for particle size reduction, deagglomeration and dispersion of nanoparticles in liquid media. The scalability of these processors has been demonstrated in many applications.
Dr. Panagiotou will give her presentation on Wednesday, November 12 at 3:45 pm as part of the Nanocomposites Session.
About Microfluidics Microfluidics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Microfluidics International Corporation, is a supplier of advanced fluid processing equipment and reaction technology for laboratory, pilot scale and manufacturing applications. The equipment enables the manufacture and formulation of numerous nanomaterials and nanoscale products and produces the most uniform and smallest liquid and suspended solid particles available.
Microfluidics has been a worldwide supplier of Microfluidizer® high shear fluid processing systems to the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, chemical, cosmetics/personal care and food industries since 1984. As leader in the field, Microfluidics has enabled numerous companies and institutions to formulate, validate and produce licensed drugs for the worldwide healthcare market.
Companies seeking to produce difficult-to-formulate products or to find better methods of bio-processing can take advantage of complimentary sample testing at one of three Microfluidics facilities. Visit microfluidicscorp.com, email mixinginfo@mfics.com or contact Microfluidics at 800.370.5452 for application information.

Luna Innovations Incorporated (NASDAQ: LUNA) announces an award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to improve the detection and diagnosis of brain tumors. Under this program, Luna will adapt its exclusive contrast agent technology using carbon nanospheres to produce an improved magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) agent. This next-generation contrast agent will be designed to enhance tumor imaging and advance the diagnosis and treatment of this disease by directing nanomolecules to seek out specific biological targets, such as a glioblastoma tumor, one specific form of brain cancer.
MRI is critical for the diagnosis and evaluation of many forms of brain and other cancers. "Primary malignant brain tumors cause 13,000 deaths in the United States annually and survival rates following therapeutic intervention are among the lowest compared to other cancers,” stated Robert Lenk, President of Luna’s nanoWorks division. “The work we are doing with NIH allows us the opportunity to build on our existing contrast agent platform of carbon nanomedicines and ultimately improve the detection and diagnosis of these high risk brain tumors."
Luna’s imaging technology can be modified to direct it to accumulate at specific targets. Luna’s MRI contrast agent prototype is based on a modification of its TRIMETASPHERE® carbon nanomaterial known as the HYDROCHALARONE™, which has shown promise to significantly enhance relaxivity, a property that provides for better imaging; is extremely stable; is water soluble; and has the potential to be modified to clear from the bloodstream quickly or slowly, depending on the specific application. "Luna’s Hydrochalarone technology platform can be modified to produce targeted contrast agents, which selectively highlight the tumor cells. Our hope is that our novel approach will provide better resolution to radiologists, who in turn, will improve patient outcomes,” said Kent Murphy, Chairman and CEO of Luna Innovations Incorporated.
Last November, Luna announced its first grant with the NIH using this carbon nanotechnology platform to improve the identification of coronary artery disease. Under this program, Luna proposed to develop a diagnostic agent that would allow the use of MRI, potentially providing a noninvasive measure to evaluate plaque in the arteries without the use of ionizing radiation and catheters.
Luna's contrast agent prototype is currently in preclinical studies at the NCI's Nanotechnology Characterization Laboratory. The outcome of this characterization study is the report necessary for an Investigational New Drug application.
About Luna Innovations:
Luna Innovations Incorporated (lunainnovations.com) develops and manufactures new-generation products for the healthcare, telecommunications, energy and defense markets. Through its disciplined commercialization business model, Luna has become a recognized leader in transitioning science to solutions. Luna is headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia.
Luna’s nanoWorks division (lunananoworks.com), located in Danville, Virginia, is developing pharmaceutical products empowered by nanomaterials with applications in diagnostics and therapeutics. Luna’s exclusive carbon nanomaterials offer unique physical, chemical, thermal, magnetic, biological, optical and electronic properties that can be tailored to customer needs.