Event 2: Nano and Bio: Why Do We Care?

            On July 24^th, 2014, I attended Sijie Lin’s presentation “Crossroads of Nano and Bio: Why Do We Care.” Dr. Lin, a postdoctoral researcher at the UCLA California NanoSystems Institute, spoke on his research regarding the effect of nanoparticles on zebrafish embryos and why we should care.

            As the prevalence of nanotechnology increases, so does the amount of nanoparticles a person will come into contact with on a daily basis. Some of these nanoparticle end up being ingested by humans and many leech into the environment. In the United States, there’s no regulation on nanoparticle use and little research has been done on their effects on people and the environment.

            Dr. Lin researches the effect of various nanoparticles on zebrafish. These fish provide a good model for studying both human disease and environmental toxicity because their DNA is 90-95% similar to humans, they have a short gestation period and their embryos are translucent, making defects easy to pinpoint and track.

Zebrafish egg development over 24 hours

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahJjLzyioWM

            Different nanoparticles and nanomaterials are introduced to zebrafish embryos during development and compared to a control group to see their effects. As shown below, some nanoparticles have devastating effects on the fish.

Zebrafish embryos exposed to different nanoparticles (concentration 15 μg/mL) for 72 hours following fertilization (George, Saji, et al., 2011)

            Additionally, Dr. Lin discussed how his lab embraces the integration of different fields of research by using robotics to aid in sample preparation. In working with zebrafish, the transfer of their embryos to individual containers for experimentation would be the limiting factor for the number of tests that could be run. A small robot that identifies each embryo and pipettes them into their respective containers decreases sample preparation time from as much as one hour down to five minutes.

Technology + Art: A robot similar to the one shown is used to visually locate individual embryos and transfer them to individual wells in the sample plates

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ouPBX65kXU

            While nanotechnology isn’t all bad, this research implies that many of the nanoparticles in use, including the silver nanoparticles that we learned are prevalent in our clothing, cosmetics and food packaging, can have adverse environmental and human side effects. One of the larger points I've taken away from this class is that major technical innovations such as the ones that lead to the field of nanotechnology create paradigm shifts that can lead to their use outpacing the spread of information on their potential harm. Artists of many types take it upon themselves to spread this information and stimulate discussion of these topics. In the case of nanotechnology use, It’s extremely important to spread awareness and begin regulating the use of certain nanoparticles and nanomaterials. Overall, I would strongly recommend this event to my classmates because more people need to be aware of this alarming issue.

Sijie Lin and myself

Works Cited

Deneen, Sally. "Toxic Nanoparticles Are Entering the Food Supply." MSN News, 29 Aug. 2013. Web. 25 July 2014. <http://news.msn.com/rumors/rumor-toxic-nanoparticles-are-entering-the-food-supply>.

Duncan, Timothy V. "Applications of nanotechnology in food packaging and food safety: barrier materials, antimicrobials and sensors." Journal of colloid and interface science 363.1 (2011): 1

George, Saji, et al. "Use of a high-throughput screening approach coupled with in vivo zebrafish embryo screening to develop hazard ranking for engineered nanomaterials." Acs Nano 5.3 (2011): 1805-1817.

Kimmel, Charles B., et al. "Stages of embryonic development of the zebrafish."Developmental dynamics 203.3 (1995): 253-310.

Spitsbergen, Jan M., and Michael L. Kent. "The state of the art of the zebrafish model for toxicology and toxicologic pathology research—advantages and current limitations." Toxicologic pathology 31.1 suppl (2003): 62-87.

Xia, Tian, et al. "Decreased dissolution of ZnO by iron doping yields nanoparticles with reduced toxicity in the rodent lung and zebrafish embryos."Acs Nano 5.2 (2011): 1223-1235.