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ANSI Nanotechnology Standards Panel Meeting Announced for October in Washington, DC New York August 27, 2012

The American National Standards Institute's Nanotechnology Standards Panel (ANSI-NSP) will hold a meeting on October 30, 2012, in Washington, DC. Formed in 2004, ANSI's NSP serves as the cross-sector coordinating body for the facilitation of standards development in the area of nanotechnology.

Nanotechnology, linked to nanoscale science and engineering, involves the understanding and control of matter at the nanoscale, (approximately 1-to-100 nanometers), where unique phenomena allow for innovation and novel technological applications. The ANSI-NSP works to provide a forum for standards developing organizations (SDOs), government entities, academia, and industry to identify needs and establish recommendations for the creation or updating of standards related to nanotechnology and nanomaterials. In addition, the ANSI-NSP solicits participation from nanotechnology-related groups that have not traditionally been involved in the voluntary consensus standards system, while also promoting cross-sector collaborative efforts.

ANSI president and CEO S. Joe Bhatia said, Nanotechnology is a growing and vital field that has the potential to change current industries and pave the way to new ones. The ANSI-NSP looks forward to building on its record as a coordinator and facilitator of responsive nanotechnology standardization activities that keep pace with the fields advancement.

The ANSI-NSP encourages SDOs involved in nanotechnology standardization, representatives from companies working with nanomaterials or developing nanotechnology-based products and solutions, government agencies, consumer groups, and academics, to take part in the October meeting, which is free to attend. The meeting will include updates from SDOs developing nanotechnology standards and from industry representatives regarding their current needs in this area.

The meeting will take place on October 30, 2012, from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., at the offices of the law firm Sidley Austin LLP (1501 K Street NW, Washington, DC). Individuals planning to attend the October NSP meeting may register online here. For more information, visit the event Web page or contact Heather Benko (hbenko@ansi.org), ANSI senior manager, nanotechnology standardization activities.

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ANSI Nanotechnology Standards Panel Meeting Announced for October in Washington, DC

23 August 2012 Last updated at 22:27 ET

Inhaling tiny fibres made by the nanotechnology industry could cause similar health problems to asbestos, say researchers.

Some are similar in shape to asbestos fibres, which have caused lung cancers such as mesothelioma.

Research on mice, published in Toxicology Sciences, suggests the longer nanofibres are more dangerous.

Human and mouse lungs are different, but the researchers hope the study will help to design safer nanofibres.

Nanofibres are in a range of goods, from airplane wings to tennis rackets.

Ken Donaldson, professor of respiratory toxicology at the University of Edinburgh, said: "Concern has been expressed that new kinds of nanofibres being made by nanotechnology industries might pose a risk because they have a similar shape to asbestos."

Silver nanofibres of varying lengths were injected into the lungs of mice.

Those larger than five micrometres, or five-thousandths of a millimetre, tended to become lodged in the lungs and cause inflammation. The smaller ones were cleared from the lungs.

Prof Donaldson said: "We knew that long fibres, compared with shorter fibres, could cause tumours, but until now we did not know the cut-off length at which this happened.

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Nanofibres 'may pose health risk'

NAPLES, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Industrial Nanotech, Inc. (Pink Sheets:INTK), an emerging global leader in nanotechnology based energy saving solutions, today announced that the Companys patented Nansulate(R) translucent thermal insulation and protective coating was specified into a recently awarded renovation project by the City of Miami. The nanotechnology based coating, which insulates while allowing through visible light and providing UV resistance, will be used for skylight insulation in the Caribbean Marketplace Renovation Project being undertaken by the City of Miami.

We look forward to having our technology be a part of the renovation of an important piece of South Florida history, stated Francesca Crolley, V.P. Business Development for Industrial Nanotech, Inc. Our coating technology is very well suited for use as skylight insulation because it provides an effective way to reduce heat transfer through glass or plexiglass, while also allowing transmission of approximately 92% of visible light, as tested on pane glass, and providing important UV resistance. Our coatings have been used in skylight applications at the Tampa Port Authority, The Vernon Bank in Louisiana, and at the Frost Art Museum at Florida International University, just to name a few. Skylights are often used in architecture to allow in natural daylight, which reduces the need for interior lighting. Unfortunately, without the protective advantage that Nansulate(R) offers, they can act as a problem area for heat loss and gain, therefore increasing cooling and heating costs. Another issue is glare and harmful UV rays streaming through the glass, which are all problems that our coating technology solves. Nansulate(R) translucent coatings are easy to apply, highly resistant to UV rays, and diffuse light... causing less glare. This combination of protective benefits along with energy savings make our technology a perfect option for insulation of skylights."

The return of the Caribbean Marketplace marks renewed efforts to boost tourism for Miami while preserving Little Haiti's history. The only building in South Florida to win the American Institute of Architects' national honor award, the structure was designed by Haitian-American Charles Harrison Pawley and inspired by the famed Iron Market in Port-au-Prince.

About Nansulate(R)

Nansulate(R) is the Company's patented product line of award winning, specialty coatings containing a nanotechnology based material and which are well-documented to provide the combined performance qualities of thermal insulation, corrosion prevention, resistance to mold growth, chemical resistance and lead encapsulation in an environmentally safe, water-based, coating formulation. The Nansulate(R) Product Line includes industrial, residential, agricultural and solar thermal insulation coatings. Additional information about the Company and its products can be found at their websites, (www.inanotk.com) and (www.nansulate.com). Blog: http://www.nansulate.com/nanoblog, Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/NanoPioneer, Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Nansulate.

About Industrial Nanotech Inc.

Industrial Nanotech Inc. is a global nanoscience solutions and research leader and member of the U.S. Green Building Council. The Company develops and commercializes new and innovative applications for sustainable nanotechnology which are sold worldwide.

Safe Harbor Statement

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This release includes forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, the impact of competitive products, the ability to meet customer demand, the ability to manage growth, acquisitions of technology, equipment, or human resources, the effect of economic and business conditions, and the ability to attract and retain skilled personnel. The Company is not obligated to revise or update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this release.

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Industrial Nanotech, Inc. Announces Another Skylight Project

Over the past six years, the National Cancer Institutes (NCI) Nanotechnology Characterization Laboratory (NCL), a key component of the NCIs Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer, has characterized more than 250 different nanomaterials developed by over 75 research groups. This extensive experience has given NCL staff a unique perspective on how to design safe and biocompatible nanomaterials for human use. In a paper published in the journal Integrative Biology, the NCL team shared some of the lessons they have learned.

The NCL performs and standardizes the pre-clinical characterization of nanomaterials intended for cancer therapeutics and diagnostics developed by researchers from academia, government, and industry. The Lab serves as a national resource and knowledge base for cancer researchers, and facilitates the development and translation of nanoscale particles and devices for clinical applications. Scott McNeil, the NCLs director, and seven colleagues compiled the common pitfalls that nonmaterial developers encounter on their path from basic research, to products that will be tested as agents for imaging or delivering drugs to tumors in humans.

One important lesson for nanomaterial developers, who tend to be academic researchers with little experience developing products intended for clinical use, is that they need to focus more on ensuring that the materials they develop for testing in animals, and eventually humans, are sterile. A recent review of 75 samples arriving at the NCL for testing found that more than one-third showed evidence of bacterial contamination.

Another important lesson was that commercially available materials, whether they are nanomaterials or chemicals used to make nanomaterials, are not always what they appear to be. In some cases, these raw materials are contaminated with bacterial toxins, in other cases the products do not meet the specifications advertised by the manufacturers. Dr. McNeil and his colleagues note that it is in the researchers best interest to always characterize materials before proceeding with synthesis and more expensive functionalization and biological testing.

NCL staff also found that investigators need to do a better job purifying their nanomaterials of residue remaining from the processes they use to manufacture their nanoparticles and other formulations. In some cases, nanomaterials that appeared to be toxic were in fact biocompatible. Instead, it was production impurities that were causing toxicity issues. Additionally, NCL studies have shown that nanomaterial toxicity can often be eliminated by choosing slightly different starting materials that are incorporated into the final product but that do not play a role as an imaging agent or anticancer drug.

The last two lessons have to do with the importance of developing the right methods for assessing a nanomaterials stability in the body and the rate at which it releases its cargo at the intended target, the tumor. NCL team leaders recommend that nanomaterial developers employ multiple assays before beginning animal studies to determine these characteristics of their nanomaterials because single assays can often paint an incomplete picture that can lead to wasted time and money.

The work that produced these findings is described in more detail in a paper titled Common pitfalls in nanotechnology: lessons from the NCIs Nanotechnology Characterization Laboratory. An abstract of this paper is available at the journals website.

More information: Abstract: DOI: 10.1039/C2IB20117H

Journal reference: Integrative Biology

Provided by National Cancer Institute

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Lessons learned in creating biomedical nanoparticles for human use

A novel nanotechnology drug delivery system under development to infiltrate breast cancer tumors could pave the way for treating other diseases.

Penn State College of Medicine received a $1 million grant from a state research fund set up with money from its tobacco settlement to assess the drug treatments commercialization potential.

The principal investigator for the nanotechnology delivery system is Mark Kester, a professor of pharmacology and director of the Penn State Center for NanoMedicine and Materials. He has been working for the past five to six years with Jim Adair of Penn States department of material sciences and engineering, and Keystone Nano, a nanotechnology company spun out of Penn State University led by Jeff Davidson, the founder of the Biotechnology Institute and Pennsylvania Bio industry association.

The next generation of cancer-fighting drugs specifically target cancer proteins rather than attack cancer and noncancer cells indiscriminately. Although companies have recognized the ability of small interfering RNA as a small molecule that can be directed to interfere with the production of cancer cells, the toxicity of siRNA has proved a challenge in its use. Biotechnology companies and institutions have been studying ways to use different nanotechnology particles to house the toxic molecule.

In an interview with MedCity News, Kester explained that the team has developed nontoxic nanojackets that use calcium phosphocillate nanoparticles, material that makes up teeth and bones, to deliver the toxic siRNA safely to the gene mutation. In this case, the one that causes overexpression of an oncogenic protein in breast cancer patients.

Getting to this stage has taken five to six years. Kester estimates it will take another one-and-a-half years to get to the point where it will have enough data to submit an IND application. During that time it will work with contract research organizations across Pennsylvania to conduct preclinical trials using the nanojackets.

Even if the companys IND application is approved, it will take another five to eight years to get the technology to the point where it can be submitted for FDA approval.

A cursory search on Clinicaltrials.gov revealed that 10 clinical studies are using siRNA to combat diseases in clinical trials. The one that is using them to fight breast cancer uses fat cells to house the toxic molecule.

If successful, the siRNA molecule could theoretically be delivered to any protein mutation and destroy it, a development that would revolutionize not only cancer treatment but one that could lead to treating Alzheimers and Parkinsons disease and other unmet needs.

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‘Nanojackets’ for treating breast cancer could be game changer for cancer care

There still is no decision from the Army Corps of Engineers about key preparations for land being marketed to nanotechnology companies as a chip fabrication site.

But local economic development officials say the process has become a race against time, as the multi-billion dollar industry ramps up for a shift in the way chips are produced.

We think the next site selection will be in 2013 and 2014, said Mohawk Valley EDGE economic development agency President Steve DiMeo. The major players and some of the support industry (are) talking about timelines for actually building and having output from a 450 mm plant.

DiMeo was referring to the new generation of nanotechnology chips, which will be made in a new 450 mm format.

Currently, most of the chips, which can be found in everything from cell phones to medical devices, are made many at a time on 300 mm wafers. Companies now want to make them on 450 mm wafers, so more of the tiny chips can be manufactured at once.

In September 2011, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced $4.4 billion in private investment in nanotechnology initiatives in New York state.

That was in addition to the 2009 announcement that $45 million in state funds would be spent at SUNYIT to create a state of the art nanotechnology research and development compound.

Those investments are hoped to up the appeal of the Marcy site, which has been on the market for more than a decade. So far, about $16 million has been spent to prepare the site. A total of $39 million in work is planned.

Long time coming

The tussle with the Army Corps has been going on almost as long as the SUNYIT-owned site has been marketed to the nanotechnology industry.

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Officials continue to push for chip fab manufacturer