Found out today that Nanocolors blog was mentionned in a June 2009 document entitled “Identified stakeholders and their interests in the field of HSE impacts of nanomaterials – month 12 update report” released by NanoImpactNet, a European network on the health and environmental impact of nanomaterials. Along with close to 50 other websites, Nanocolors is mentionned in the 5th part, “Continuing contact, communication and networking with stakeholders” for a post presenting NanoImpactNet published in February 2009.

Based on an estimation using the Espacenet database, this chart illustrates how the top 10 big aerospace & defense companies (according to the 2008 Fortune 500 ranking of aerospace & defense industries) rank in terms of number of nano-related patents.

[[[ Additional links suggested by Nanocolors :

# Nano Terra Inc. and Honeywell Aerospace announce development and licensing agreement

# Lockheed Martin gives LANCER program high marks

# Boeing develops nano rhenium composite alloys for space applications ]]]

The Hadassah Medical Organization plan to start in January 2010 a phase I clinical trial entitled “Antibacterial properties of silicon incorporated with quaternary ammonium polyethylenimine nanoparticles” now registered in the Clinicaltrials.gov database under reference NCT01007240. According to this page, “the aim of this study is to evaluate the antibacterial activity of crosslinked quaternary ammonium polyethylenimine (PEI) nanoparticles incorporated at 1-2% w/w in a commercial soft liner material when compared to the commercial soft liner material“.

Based on an estimation using the Espacenet database, this chart illustrates how the top 10 big semiconductor suppliers (according to the 2008 ranking of the top semiconductor suppliers released on Electronicsweekly.com) rank in terms of number of nano-related patents. The domination of Samsung is obvious, with close to 60% of the total number of patents over these 10 companies ; Sony and Intel are respectively n°2 and n°3.

[[[ Additional link suggested by Nanocolors :

# Nano & electronics : volumetry of patents since 2000 ]]]

Here are two useful sources of information for getting a feeling of the ongoing French nanotech debate :

- videos related to the debate, including video summaries of some of the public meetings are available here ;

- slideshare versions of presentations delivered at the meetings are available here ; although very short (too short to my mind), some provide interesting elements.

[[[ Additional link suggested by Nanocolors :

# Program of the French nanotech debate ]]]

This chart was built by searching the Espacenet database for patents mentionning the prefixes “nano” and “paint” in their title or abstract.

Based on an estimation using the Espacenet database, this chart illustrates how the top 10 big cosmetics companies (according to Beauty Packaging’s annual ranking of the Top Global Beauty Companies) rank in terms of number of nano-related patents.

[[[ Additional link suggested by Nanocolors :

# Nano & cosmetics patents since 2000 ]]]

A new assay developped by US and Austrian researchers uses gold nanoparticles and DNA as amplification agents to detect prostate specific antigen (PSA), a protein associated with prostate cancer. The immunoassay is based on the use of 1) PSA antibody-functionalised gold nanoparticles decorated with DNA strand and 2) magnetic microparticles functionalised with a second PSA antibody. In solution, these two particles both bind to PSA ; the probes can then be magnetically separated thanks to the presence of the magnetic particles. DNA is then cleaved from the gold nanoparticles surface and its quantity (measured owing to a scanometric assay) indirectly indicates the level of PSA initially present in the sample. According to the researchers, this assay is ~300 times more sensitive than other commercial assays (see for example this article for more details).

[[[ Additional links suggested by Nanocolors :

# Gold nanoparticles in biomedical publications since 2000

# Functionalized nanoparticles in patents since 2000

# Gold nanoparticles for cancer detection animation ]]]

Medical and pharma applications of nanotech are one of the key editorial lines of Nanocolors blog ; here is a recap of the 10 medical/pharma-related trend charts already released, ranked by number of visits.

Nano patents & the top 10 big pharmaceutical companies

Nanoparticles in clinical trial phases

Nanoparticles in clinical trials since 2000

Nano & drug delivery patents since 2000

Nano & pharma patents since 2000

Nanoparticles & cancer therapy in biomedical publications since 2000 # Commented

Nanoparticles in clinical trials – status regarding participant recruitment

Nano & vaccines in patents since 2000

Nanomedicine in biomedical publications since 2000

Nanosurgery in biomedical publications since 2000