Nanotechnology research and applications have experienced rapid growth in recent years. We assessed the status of nanotechnology research worldwide by applying bibliographic, content map, and citation network analysis to a data set of about 200,000 nanotechnology papers published in the Thomson Science Citation Index Expanded database (SCI) from 1976 to 2004. This longitudinal study shows a qua...

In those early days, nanotechnology referred to the possibility of synthesis via direct manipulation of atoms and molecules for fabrication of macroscale products. In the 1990, K. Eric Drexler and M. Minsky used the word “nanotechnology” in their book “Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology” (Drexler and Minsky 1990), in which they proposed assembling machines and devices on the ...

Nanotechnology is a paradigm for emerging technologies and much talked about area of science. It is the technology of future and has revolutionized all fields of medicine, agriculture, environmental and electronics by providing abilities that would never have previously dreamt of. It is a unique platform of multidisciplinary approaches integrating diverse fields of engineering, biology, physics...

Nanotechnology influences almost every facet of everyday life from security to medicine. The concept of nanotechnology is that when one goes down to the bottom of things, one can discover unlimited possibilities and potential of the basic particle. In nanotechnology, analysis can be made to the level of manipulating atoms, molecules and chemical bonds between them. The growing interest in the d...

It is now 14 years since the concept of a research center for nanotechnology was first conceived by Rick Smalley and subsequently approved by the Board of Governors of Rice University. As a consequence, the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (renamed the “Smalley Institute” in memory of Rick) was funded without federal or state money and the world’s first university building dedicated ...

PURPOSE This study examined the need for public communication about nanotechnologies and nanoparticles by providing a comparative analysis of the differences in risk awareness of nanotechnologies and nanoparticles between consumers and experts. METHODS A total of 1,007 consumers and 150 experts participated in this study. A questionnaire was prepared examining their awareness of nanotechnolog...

BACKGROUND Beside the promising application potential of nanotechnologies in engineering, the use of nanomaterials in medicine is growing. New therapies employing innovative nanocarrier systems to increase specificity and efficacy of drug delivery schemes are already in clinical trials. However the influence of the nanoparticles themselves is still unknown in medical applications, especially fo...