NANOTECHNOLOGY! A rather complex looking word has more applications in our day to day life than one thinks? Nanotech, short for nanotechnology, is a technology operating at a nanoscale i.e. a scale of one billionth of a metre. To visualize this, imagine seeing through the eyes of an elephant to operate at the level of an ant!
The fascinating benefits of nanotechnology have led to its applications in a variety of sectors. For instance, many new electronic appliances like smartphones and TV; that have screens, use OLEDs (organic light-emitting diodes) that are made from nanostructured polymers. OLEDs offer better brightness and picture quality. Nanotechnology is also used in automotives to manufacture highly powerful rechargeable batteries that are being employed in electric vehicles (EVs) like Tesla. It has found its use in the textile and cosmetics industries as well.
The story doesn’t end here! Nanomedicine is the field of medicine where nanotechnology is employed to help improve & even revolutionize finding, anticipating, and treating a wide range of diseases. For instance, researchers have developed novel techniques to deliver medication using nanotech for deadly diseases like cancer. These techniques are highly efficient and also minimize the amount of medication required. An example of nanomedicine with which everyone can relate is the mRNA vaccine for COVID-19. The vaccines make use of lipid nanoparticles to effectively transport the mRNA to the right place in the cells. Nanotech also plays an important role in regenerative medicine to design human tissues and organs.
Now you must be wondering, if nanomedicine demonstrates such promising qualities, why isn’t it being used frequently in clinics? The main reason for this is, no matter how great a nanomedicine innovation looks in research labs, its application depends on the manufacturability of the nanomaterial. That means the industry producing the nanomaterial should produce it effectively given its design, cost, and distribution requirements. A major problem faced by the industries is scaling up production as it requires innovative manufacturing practices. In the case of COVID-19, we were able to produce the vaccines in a short period because of disruptive innovations funded from government and private sectors.
So what’s next? To facilitate this, researchers are now focused on providing innovative and affordable solutions to make the manufacturing technologies commercially viable which would subsequently benefit the pharmaceutical industry and society as a whole.
Still interested? See this video to get more insights :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqy6O68yxmg
The fascinating benefits of nanotechnology have led to its applications in a variety of sectors. For instance, many new electronic appliances like smartphones and TV; that have screens, use OLEDs (organic light-emitting diodes) that are made from nanostructured polymers. OLEDs offer better brightness and picture quality. Nanotechnology is also used in automotives to manufacture highly powerful rechargeable batteries that are being employed in electric vehicles (EVs) like Tesla. It has found its use in the textile and cosmetics industries as well.
The story doesn’t end here! Nanomedicine is the field of medicine where nanotechnology is employed to help improve & even revolutionize finding, anticipating, and treating a wide range of diseases. For instance, researchers have developed novel techniques to deliver medication using nanotech for deadly diseases like cancer. These techniques are highly efficient and also minimize the amount of medication required. An example of nanomedicine with which everyone can relate is the mRNA vaccine for COVID-19. The vaccines make use of lipid nanoparticles to effectively transport the mRNA to the right place in the cells. Nanotech also plays an important role in regenerative medicine to design human tissues and organs.
Now you must be wondering, if nanomedicine demonstrates such promising qualities, why isn’t it being used frequently in clinics? The main reason for this is, no matter how great a nanomedicine innovation looks in research labs, its application depends on the manufacturability of the nanomaterial. That means the industry producing the nanomaterial should produce it effectively given its design, cost, and distribution requirements. A major problem faced by the industries is scaling up production as it requires innovative manufacturing practices. In the case of COVID-19, we were able to produce the vaccines in a short period because of disruptive innovations funded from government and private sectors.
So what’s next? To facilitate this, researchers are now focused on providing innovative and affordable solutions to make the manufacturing technologies commercially viable which would subsequently benefit the pharmaceutical industry and society as a whole.
Still interested? See this video to get more insights :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqy6O68yxmg
