Future fuel sources needed! Experts turn
to biotechnology to solve the problem.
Biofuels may play an important part in fuel and energy production solutions for the future. The nanotechnology processes are working to immobilize the enzymes used to convert cellulose to sugars, allowing them to be reused several times, which will significantly reduce the overall cost of the process. New technologies are using wood, grass, and stalks to convert into ethanol. Cellulosic ethanol does not compete with food production and it has the potential to decrease harmful greenhouse gas emissions by 86% over that of today’s fossil fuels. Current techniques for corn ethanol only reduce greenhouse gases by 19%.

Read more at:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091008131858.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090122093923.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081002172438.htm

Future Toys May Be Made from Banana Plants
10 million bananas are harvested every year in the Canary Islands and biotechnologists have found a way to use banana plants to make plastics. Natural fibers contained within banana plants may be used in the production of rotationally molded plastics, which are used to make everyday items such as oil tanks, wheelie bins, water tanks, traffic cones, plastic dolls, and many types of boats. The banana plant fibers will be processed, treated, and added to a mix of plastic material that is sandwiched between two thin layers of pure plastic. This new technique will have substantial environmental benefits because it uses less polyethylene. The research and development of this new approach will help create jobs and banana plantations will benefit financially from the sale of the remains of millions of harvested banana plants, which would otherwise go to waste.

Read more at:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090928095449.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090702080523.htm

Nano-Engineers Work to Make Life-Saving Drugs
Nanotechnology operates on the molecular level. It involves engineering materials on such a small scale that the results can be seen only with electron and atomic force microscopes. It is setting off a storm of innovations in many fields including biology, medicine, material science, computers, manufacturing, and physics.

Nanotechnology is being used in medicine to improve targeting drugs to the right spots. Nanoparticles can be coated so that they are durable and stable, or patterned so that they match up like a key and a lock to connect to certain cells, tissues, and organs. The particles can be made so that several different types of molecules could be attached to it. One group of molecules could fight the disease, another could enhance images to track the drug, a third could carry a chemical trigger to release the medicine by command from outside the body, and a fourth could send signals about results. New ways of targeting drugs that will be more effective and safe for patients are just over the horizon.

Read more at:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091008113311.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071024102700.htm