Nano Meets H₂O

Water. It’s the most abundant solvent on the planet and the medium of life. And it may provide scientists the means to move nanotechnology beyond molecular-scale electronics and science-fiction nanobots and to develop new medical therapies and solve persistent problems in environmental engineering.

Brian White

At least that is the aspiration of researchers at Rice’s recently launched Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology. The center, one of six major nanoscale science and engineering centers funded by the National Science Foundation, is the first to focus on applications of nanoscience to biology and the environment. A $10.5 million grant will enable educational and industrial outreach activities in addition to research. The other grant recipients are Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Northwestern, and Rensselaer Polytechnic.

There can be no doubt about the importance of this kind of nanoscale research. “The pages of Science magazine, Scientific American, as well as highly regarded nonscience journals such as the Economist, continue to be full of news on nanoscale science and nanotechnology,” points out Rice president Malcolm Gillis. “In recent weeks alone, numerous nanotechnology articles have appeared citing superconductivity of buckyballs, single-molecule computer switches, golden nanoshells in treating cancer, and the growing list of useful properties of carbon nano-tubes in computing, biomedicine, and materials.”

Vicki Colvin, associate professor of chemistry at Rice and co-director of the center (see page 48), says, “Our goal is to shape nanoscience into a discipline with the relevance, triumphs, and vitality of a modern-day polymer science—into something that people use every day.” It will take an interdisciplinary effort, she says. “It not only requires nanoscientists to look outside their own fields, but for research leaders in other fields to look for ways to apply nanoscience to their own problems. Our center will serve as a hub for such collaboration and as a resource for educating the public about nanotechnology.”

Research activities at the center will emphasize the interface between nanomaterials and water-based systems that range in size from biomolecules and cells to whole organisms and the surrounding environment. This “wet/dry” interface is key to applications in medicine and environmental engineering. Gold nanoshells injected into cancer cells, for instance, currently are being tested as a cancer therapy. A likely environmental application of nanomaterials is wastewater treatment—nanostructured materials should make efficient filtration systems.

The center has attracted a breadth of expertise in all three of the areas under its research umbrella. “Rice is proud to be the home of nearly 40 scientists and engineers working in nanoscale teaching and research and the new Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology,” Gillis says. In addition to Colvin, Richard E. Smalley, the Gene and Norman Hackerman Professor of Chemistry and professor of physics at Rice, will direct the center’s long-range vision. Smalley was a joint recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of fullerenes. Mark Wiesner, professor of civil and environmental engineering and director of Rice’s Environmental and Energy Systems Institute, will lead the new center’s environmental research arm, and Jennifer West, associate professor of bioengineering and chemical engineering, will lead its biological component.

In a three-pronged approach, educational and industrial outreach programs will complement the center’s research activities. The educational centerpiece is an initiative to train ninth-grade Houston Independent School District teachers in the challenging discovery-based teaching style so important to science education. The educa-tional programs also include curriculum and textbook development and funds to support summer undergraduate research.

The industrial component includes a partnership with the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management. This program will encourage the transfer of center technology to start-up ventures by bringing together scientists, students, and business experts interested in nanoscience applications.

—Margot Dimond