Nanotechnology and Developing Countries
Part 1: What Possibilities?
Donald C. Maclurcan
Topics Covered
Abstract
Background
What isNanotechnology and How is it New?
Ancient Origins of Nanotechnology
Reasons Why Nanotechnology hasonly Come to the Fore in Recent Times
Relevant,Appropriate Applications for Developing Country Healthcare?
Dispelling Misconceptions aboutNanotechnology
Potential Benefits ofNanotechnology to Developing Countries
Diagnosis and Treatment ofTuberculosis using Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology Research intoPrevention of Other Infectious Diseases such as HIV/AIDS
Long Term Effects of Nanoparticles
Risk versus Benefits ofNanotechnology and its Effect on Applications
The PotentialNature of Developing Country Engagement with Nanotechnology
Which Countries will Manufactureand which Will become Nanotechnology Importers
Developing Countries Active inNanotechnology Development
Patent Applications as anIndicator of Nanotechnology Activity
Conclusions
References
Contact Details
Abstract
In recent times, nanotechnology has beenincluded in a number of the debates considering emerging technology anddeveloping countries. However, the literature considering nanotechnology’sapplication to the developing world has often varied in its interpretation ofwhat nanotechnology really is. Furthermore, despite a wide range ofperspectives as to the relevance, appropriateness and potential impact ofnanotechnology for developing countries, the key debates have often remaineddisengaged. This paper attempts to clarify understandings of nanotechnology andsynthesize discussions on issues of relevance, appropriateness and distributionwith respect to developing countries. In support, recent developments innanotechnology and healthcare are provided.
Background
In recent times, a number of researchgroups have stimulated debate on nanotechnology’s possible applications andimplications for developing countries [see,for example, 1, 2, 3].However, many of the subsequent papers have failed to distinguish theoretical-from currently feasible-nanotechnology [see,for example, 3, 4, 5]. Ininternational debates, distinction between the near-term, possible reality andtheoretical science is crucial to the efficient exchange of information.
Furthermore, amongst those considering developingcountry engagement with nanotechnology, a range of perspectives are heldconcerning ‘appropriateness’ and nanotechnology’s likely impact on thedeveloping world. Some individuals challenge a pervasive acceptance ofnanotechnology, expressing concern about developing country exploitation [Shivacited in 6],insubstantial consideration for issues of risk and regulation [7], the loss of traditional markets [8] and an identification of nanotechnology applications that fails toconsider historical trends and current barriers to technology distribution [9]. Others adopt a more utilitarian approach, linking nanotechnologyapplications in water, energy, health, food and agriculture to the fulfilmentof the United Nation’s (U.N.) Millennium Development Goals [4,10], despite earlierrecognition of its potential to stimulate a greater divide between the ‘haves’and ‘have-nots’ [1].
Despite surprising levels of nanotechnologyresearch and development (R&D) in the developing world [1], arguments concerning nanotechnology’s role as a protagonist orantagonist to sustainable developmentremain disengaged.
In this paper we seek to clarifyunderstandings of nanotechnology and synthesize discussions on issues ofrelevance, appropriateness and equity with respect to developing countries.With infectious and parasitic disease remaining the greatest cause of death inthe developing world [12] and nanotechnology predicted to affect half of the world’s drugproduction by 2011 [13], examples relevant to health are commonly cited.
What isNanotechnology and How is it New?
For citizens in the developed world alreadyexposed to the term ‘nanotechnology’, associated impressions may be that itdeals with ‘very small things’, concerns ‘submarine robots in the bloodstream’and brings with it the threat of ‘grey goo’.The latter, more popular ideations, essentially stem from K. Eric Drexler’sproposal that atoms and molecules could act as self-assembling machinery,performing production tasks at the nanoscale [15].
However, what is now universally acceptedas ‘nanotechnology’, yet sometimes less noted, is an area evolving somewhatindependently of Drexler’s visions. Following challenges from the generalscientific community, on the basis of technological feasibility, Drexlerrenamed his understanding and aspirations for nanotechnology: ‘molecularmanufacturing’. Thus, in the 21st Century, the term‘nanotechnology’, whilst similar to molecular manufacturing in that it involveswork on the level of atoms and molecules, refers to an applied science,focussed upon exploiting novelties arising from size-dependent phenomenaexhibited in nanoscale matter. When dealing with matter below approximately 50nanometres, the laws of quantum physics supersede those of traditional physics,resulting in “…changes to a substance’s conductivity, elasticity, reactivity,strength, colour, and tolerance to temperature and pressure” [16]. Such changes are useful to all industrial sectors wherenanotechnology will enable smaller, faster, ‘smarter’, cheaper, lighter, safer,cleaner and more precise solutions [17-19]. For example, in the field of drug delivery, Peppas notes thatnanoscale pH-sensitive hydrogels for treating patients with multiple sclerosis,“release at varying rates depending on the pH of the surrounding environment”,suggesting that “…these nanoparticle carriers may protect drugs from beingbroken down in the body until they reach the small intestine” [20]. Furthermore, progressing from the micro- to nano-scale involvesinherent increases in a material’s surface area and surface-to-volume ratiothat can be used to manufacturing advantage.
AncientOrigins of Nanotechnology
Yet, utilising science at the nanoscale isnot new. For example, in the 4th Century A.D., the Romans appliedgold and silver nanoparticles to colour glass cups [21]. The resulting artefacts were red in transmitted light and green inreflected light – a sophistication not reproduced again until medieval times.There are many scientists today who would argue they have been conductingresearch in the realms of the nanoscale since well before 1990.
ReasonsWhy Nanotechnology has only Come to the Fore in Recent Times
So how come more and more people aretalking about nanotechnology as the ‘next big thing’ if it has ‘existed’ forsuch a long time? There are three main reasons. Firstly, only in the past fewdecades have we really had the experimental means to conduct work focussed onactivity at the nanoscale. Emerging tools, including scanning probe microscopy,quantum mechanical computer simulation and soft X-ray lithography, havecombined with new synthesis methods, such as chemical vapour deposition,leading to a significantly greater, ever accelerating understanding ofscientific endeavour at the nanoscale. These progressions have been paralleledby the discovery of materials such as fullerenes and nanotubes and, in morerecent years, stimulated by a flood of government nanotechnology funding incountries such as the U.S., China and Japan.
Secondly, nanotechnology has, as itsunderlying aim, the desire to manufacture with ultimate precision on the atomicscale in a ‘bottom-up’ manner. This means that, rather than the traditionalapproach to manufacturing whereby bulk materials are whittled down,nanotechnology aims to produce devices commencing with the self-assembly ofindividual atoms into precise configurations, as has been the case withcombinational chemistry for many years. Whilst a great deal of nanotechnology continuesto utilise ‘top-down’ processes such as lithography, the gradual trend istowards ‘bottom-up’ approaches that hold numerous, long-term manufacturing,financial and environmental advantages.
Thirdly, and arguably most importantly, therecognition of nanotechnology as an emerging field demands and creates newlevels of multi-disciplinary collaboration and cross-fertilisation amongst thesciences. Practically, this happens because of the integrated exploitation ofbiological principles, physical laws and chemical properties at the nanoscale [22]. The increasing desire and need to classify technology resultingfrom nanoscale manipulation and the progressive integration of scientificdisciplines at a unifying length-scale, has led to the accepted term‘nanotechnology’, under which new research is growing and existing research isoften re-classified. Whilst nanotechnology is projected by the U.S. NationalScience Foundation (NSF) to have a global market value of $1 trillion[e]by 2011 [23], early signs in the information and communications technology (ICT)and textile industries are that nanotechnology is more complementary, thandisplacing.
According to a UNESCO-sponsored study in1996, “nanotechnology will provide the foundation of all technologies in thenew century” [24]. However, basket-casing nanotechnology as ‘another biotechnology’runs the risk of disregarding novel implications (both advantageous anddetrimental). For those involved in the development of nanotechnology policy, oneof the greatest challenges will be the efficient use of time; distinguishingand dealing with novel ethical, legal and social implications whilst ensuringappropriate contextualisation.
Relevant,Appropriate Applications for Developing Country Healthcare?
Given the ‘capital intensive, high-tech, science fiction’ brandingit has received from much of the developed world media, nanotechnology wouldappear highly incongruous with sustainable development practices. In responseto a recent study that ranked nanotechnology applications, from socialdevelopment cluster areas,according to their potential benefit for developing countries [10], Invernizzi and Foladori, cite the ability of China and Vietnam tosignificantly reduce malaria in the last century without the use of emergingtechnologies [9].
Furthermore, Brown notes that, “within development circles there isa suspicion of technology boosters as too often people promoting expensive,inappropriate fixes that take no account of development realities” [26]. Others believe the promotion and debate about nanotechnology incountries such as India, China and Brazil, threatens to divert and detractresources, political will and attention from the needs of the poor [27] and could inhibit research necessary to “address society’s problemsin a systemic manner” [Mulvaneycited in 6]. Inaddition to nanotechnology possibly promoting a ‘technical fix’ approach [28], there is a concern that high entry prices for new procedures andskills are “very likely to exacerbate existing divisions between rich and poor”[Healy,cited in, 28].
DispellingMisconceptions about Nanotechnology
Yet much of the early commentary fromresearch groups and developing countries engaging in nanotechnology discussionshas been united in the identification of relevant applications in areas such assolar cell technology, water purification; and health-related diagnostics andtherapeutics [1,4, 29-32]. At an internationalpolicy level there has been a push from individuals, such as the U.N. Under-Secretaryfor Economic Affairs, to include nanotechnology in discussions concerningemerging technology and sustainable development [33]. Representatives from the U.N. Conference on Trade and Developmentand Commission on Science and Technology for Development have suggested thatnanotechnology can help “reduce the cost and increase the likelihood ofattaining the Millennium Development Goals” [34]. Individuals with the National Science Foundation of Sri Lankabelieve that, whilst nanotechnology research and development is ‘high-tech’,the products it enables, can be appropriate for use throughout the world [30]. Harper suggests it is this misconception, that nanotechnology is“all about high technology, semiconductors and science fiction”, that iscreating a major barrier to nanotechnology being viewed as appropriate to thedevelopment setting [35].
PotentialBenefits of Nanotechnology to Developing Countries
In a recent study that rankednanotechnology applications according to their potential benefit for developingcountries, water treatment, disease diagnosis/screening and drug deliverysystems respectively rated 3rd, 4th and 5th,behind energy storage, production, and conversion (1st) andagricultural productivity enhancement (2nd) [10]. Salvarezza believes nanotechnology offers an area such asdeveloping country healthcare, “safer drug delivery, new methods forprevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases” [36]. In rural areas, Harper argues that pulmonary or epidermal drugdelivery applications utilising nanotechnology, “have the potential to free upthe large numbers of trained medical personnel who are currently engaged inadministering drugs via hypodermic needles” [35]. Furthermore, Barker comments that slow-release drugs, importantfor those in remote areas, could be assisted by nano-porous membranes [4]. In a joint project between groups in the U.S., India and Mexico,inexpensive, maintenance free solar panels, aimed at powering rural clinics andrefrigerating medicines, are currently being developed [37]. Could nanotechnology empower local healthcare auxiliaries, inrural settings worldwide, to address diagnostic and therapeutic concerns byreducing reliance on trained specialists or technical assistance? Or does suchas suggestion sound similar to the many promises of past technologicalrevolutions that were challenged by the realities of global development anddomestic technology distribution?
Diagnosisand Treatment of Tuberculosis using Nanotechnology
Many believe nanotechnology offers new waysto address residual scientific concerns for Mycobacterium tuberculosis(TB). Declared a global emergency by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in1993, the re-emerging threat of TB continues to be technically compounded bysignificant increases in the prevalence of multi-drug resistance (MDR), in anumber of settings [38]. Treatments with improved sustained release profiles andbioavailability can increase compliance through reduced drug requirements andtherein minimise MDR-TB [39]. Additionally, improved diagnostic tools are required to meet theneeds of the WHO’s expansion of the Directly Observed Treatment Short-course,MDR and co-infection with HIV [40].
In India, the country with the highestestimated number of TB cases [41], research is underway into the role nanotechnology can play inaddressing such concerns. A nanotechnology-based TB diagnostic kit, designed bythe Central Scientific Instruments Organisation of India and currently in theclinical trials phase, does not require skilled technicians for use [42] and offers efficiency, portability, user-friendliness andavailability for as little as 30 rupees [43] (less than US$1). In the Medical Sciences division of the U.S.Department of Energy, researchers are investigating an optical biosensor forrapid TB detection [44]. Furthermore, a group at RMIT University, in Australia, isconducting research into the application of novel tethered nanoparticles aslow-cost, colour based assays for TB diagnosis [45].
Polylactide co-glycolide nanoparticles arebeing investigated by groups at Harvard University (U.S.), the PostgraduateInstitute of Medical Education and Research (India) and the Council forScientific and Industrial Research (South Africa), as drug carriers fortreating TB [46-48]. So far, all groups have registered high levels of drugencapsulation efficiency, whilst both the Indian and South African groups havedemonstrated sustained release profiles. Furthermore, the Indian group havereported increased bioavailability and “undetectable bacterial counts in thelungs and spleens of Mycobacterium tuberculosis-infected mice” 21 dayspost-inoculation [49]. The South African group claim that a prototype of their workshould be ready for commercialisation by 2007/8 [39]. Furthermore, a nanotechnology-based vaccine adjuvant for TB wasdeveloped by the U.S firm, Biosante, in 2002 [50].
NanotechnologyResearch into Prevention of Other Infectious Diseases such as HIV/AIDS
TB is just one example of currentnanotechnology research relevant to infectious diseases most prevalent in thedeveloping world. Inter alia, science ministers from South Africa, Brazil andIndia have been working together on identifying ways in which nanotechnologycan assist HIV/AIDS [3]. An Australian company,StarpharmaTM, is developing a preventative, clear, HIV microbicidegel, based on dendrimer nanotechnology, that would remain effective whenapplied by women up to four hours in advance of sexual intercourse [51]. Also in Australia, the Austin Research Institute has conductedsuccessful trials into nano-vaccines for malaria [52]. Researchers at the State University of Campinas, Brazil, areinvestigating drug and vaccine delivery for leishmaniasis [53]. At the Chidicon Medical Center in Nigeria, researchers arestudying nanoscale copolymer assemblies for diagnostic imaging and therapeuticmanagement of infectious diseases [54]. Furthermore, in a joint project between the Rensselaer PolytechnicInstitute (U.S.) and Banaras Hindu University (India), scientists areinvestigating easy-to-manufacture, carbon nanotube filters that removenano-scale germs, such as the polio viruses, E. coli and Staphylococcus aureusbacteria, from water [55].
LongTerm Effects of Nanoparticles
Whilst Barker comments that “any helpfultechnologies should be brought into service…” for developing countries [4], others caution about the unknown risks associated withnanoparticle accumulation, toxicology and permeation [2]. As a report to the European parliament noted, “the state ofresearch concerning [sic]... The behaviour of nano-particles is actually ratherlimited, preliminary as well as contradictory” [56]. Whilst the comprehensive 2004 report by the Royal Society andRoyal Academy of Engineering (U.K.) recommends that “factories and researchlaboratories treat manufactured nanoparticles and nanotubes as if they werehazardous waste streams” [28], many traditional Chinese medicines are now known to have containedmetal nanoparticles [57]. Hoet et al. argue that “…producers of nanomaterials have a duty to provide relevant toxicitytest results for any new material, according to prevailing internationalguidelines on risk assessment” [58], leaving others disturbed that the cosmetic industry has refused torelease test data into the public domain,despite claiming that products such as sunscreen lotions are safe [59].
Furthermore,early suggestions from the U.S. and U.K., that nanotechnology is inherentlyregulated [56], have encountered stiff opposition from the action group onerosion, technology and concentration (ETC group), and others, who believenanotechnology enters a ‘regulatory vacuum’ and that some new properties ofnanoparticles are not covered by existing chemical regulations [2,60].
Riskversus Benefits of Nanotechnology and its Effect on Applications
However, in light of the debate surroundingGenetically Modified foods, Court et al. argue that an exclusive focus from thedeveloped world upon issues of risk threatens to divert attention fromidentifying and applying nanotechnology to the developing world [1]. An engagement with ‘risk’ and the consideration ofnanotechnology’s application to the developing world need not be mutuallyexclusive. In fact, although technological ‘risk’ affects countries indifferent ways depending on the nature of their engagement with change, itremains a universal consideration and a crucial factor in ensuring theappropriateness of new technology, to any setting.
Although in-depth discussions about healthrisks and the contribution of developing country perspectives are beyond the scopeof this paper, it is clear that a number of issues remain unresolved andrequire greater consideration that incorporates truly global perspectives.
The Potential Nature of Developing Country Engagement withNanotechnology
The nature of nanotechnology’s globalimpact will largely depend on the answers to five, key questions surroundingnanotechnology innovation: who? what? when? where? and why? Developingcountries will experience differing forms of engagement with nanotechnology butcan we comment on any overall impacts? Will nanotechnology, as Daar suggests,be “a profitable industry for countries in the South” [61]? Or will it “exploit the South” [Shivacited in 6] andthreaten developing country markets in primary production areas such as cotton,rubber and minerals [8]?
Will developing countries play the role ofthe ‘manufacturing-base’ for nanotechnology innovation, as suggested byWhittingham and Bateman’s 2003 ‘cost-benefit analysis of moving nanotechnologyR&D and manufacturing to Eastern European and developing countries’ [62]? Already, Malaysia and South Africa have been highlighted ascountries with comparative advantage in manufacturing for nanotechnology [32,63].
WhichCountries will Manufacture and which Will become Nanotechnology Importers
Perhaps the nature of developing countryengagement with nanotechnology is believed as largely given? Salvarezza arguesthat an identification of Northern-based nanotechnology applications for thedeveloping world predisposes participants to a scenario where “developingcountries appear as passive actors… turning them into NT [nanotechnology]importers”, widening economic and technological dependence [36].
Yet others point to the effectivedevelopment of biotechnology R&D in China, India, Brazil and Cuba,suggesting an early developing country engagement with nanotechnologyinnovation could reduce the possibility of these countries being net importersof the technology [25,64]. Given that domesticinnovation and technological advance have been identified as the most importantmechanism for the ability of countries to improve economically and ultimatelyclose the rich-poor divide [65], nanotechnology has been promoted by a recent UNESCO report asimportant to developing country innovation [3].
DevelopingCountries Active in Nanotechnology Development
With this in mind, a 2003 report by theUniversity of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics claimed a number of developingcountries are exhibiting a “surprising amount of nanotechnology activity” [1]. The study noted that China, India and South Korea had establishednational activities in nanotechnology; Thailand, The Philippines, South Africa,Brazil and Chile had some form of government support and national fundingprograms were being developed; whilst Mexico and Argentina had some form oforganised nanotechnology activity but no specific government funding [1]. Some see nanotechnology enabling developing countries “to ‘leapfrog’ their way to leadership” [66], with the Indian government looking to use nanotechnology to ‘catchup’ in global economic terms [67,68].
PatentApplications as an Indicator of Nanotechnology Activity
However, with patents known to be a usefulindicator of “technology development” [69], an assessment of 2003 figures from the U.S. Patent and TrademarkOffice (USPTO) highlighted the commanding lead held by the U.S. in nanoscalescience and engineering patenting, with 42% of the overall share. Germanyfollowed with 15.3%, and Japan was placed 3rd, with 12.6% [69]. Fast growth was said to be occurring in South Korea, the Netherlands, Ireland and China. Areport later that year claimed China was ranked 3rd in general nanotechnologypatents behind the U.S. and Japan [70].
Furthermore, of all the U.S. patentapplications in nanotechnology, 90% are held by the private sector, with theremainder split amongst the public sector (roughly 7% from universities and 3%from government agencies and collaborative research centres) [71]. In recent times, companies such as ‘3M’, ‘IBM’ and ‘HewlettPackard’ are allocating approximately one-third of their respective R&Dbudgets to nanotechnology [72]. Canadian-based nanotechnology start-up, ‘C Sixty Inc’, has, as itscore assets, numerous patents concerning fullerenes and drug delivery. As theirCEO stated, “if people want to get in this game they have to deal with us” [Sagman,cited in 73].These figures and comments raise the concern that innovation will be tied up bythe private sector of the North, with broad-sweeping patents limiting thedevelopment of new technologies and increasing global science’s ties to marketdemands [24].
A further example of market pressures waswitnessed with the 2004 ‘Nanowater’ conference, held in North America. Following theclaim by researchers at Oklahoma State University in the U.S. that they couldutilise the ability of zinc oxide nanoparticles to remove arsenic from water [74], preliminary conference material presented Bangladesh as an examplein which nanotechnology could address the very serious problem of arseniclevels and potable water. Furthermore, the conference aimed “to focus theattention of the nanotechnology community on the potential of technology tochange the world for good” [75]. However, the conference did not involve any developing country inits proceedings, and developing country issues were not directly addressed[i].
Already, civil society organisations fromSouth Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Mali, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Benin havesigned the ‘Cape Town Declaration’, calling for global participation indecisions about nanotechnology [76], highlighting fear that certain groups will be poorly representedin relevant discussions. The issue of participation is not limited to countryparticipation. For nanotechnology to make a significant contribution tosustainable development within developing countries, a much greater interplayamongst business, academic, donor, non-governmental and governmental sectors isrequired [4].
Conclusions
Scientific developments and increasinginternational attention have promoted our ability to work with and understandthe nanoscale. Nanotechnology provides a new focus for research through its aimto manufacture from the ‘bottom-up’ rather than from the ‘top down’. It alsodemands an unprecedented collaborative and integrated approach to science andtechnology. In the interest of dialogue, it is important that papers concerningnanotechnology and developing countries distinguish the kind of nanotechnologybeing discussed.
Like many past technologies, nanotechnologycould be both relevant and appropriate to sustainable development practices indeveloping countries. In an area such as tuberculosis and ruralhealth, nanotechnology has the potential to empower a local responseto challenges such as the diagnosis and treatment of infectious disease.However, there is also a danger in viewing nanotechnology as a ‘solution’ todeveloping country challenges. In some cases its application may underminealternative, more appropriate approaches to dealing with the problems at hand.Throughout nanotechnology’s ongoing evaluation process, both risk assessmentand the global contextualisation of nanotechnology’s promises must berecognised as universal requirements in order for debates to progress on mutualground.
However, with relatively little researchcommenting on global nanotechnology developments, the true picture, withrespect to developing country engagement, remains unclear. A subsequent paper,published in this journal, will seek to clarify: which countries are engagingwith nanotechnology R&D; the general focus of such research; who controlsresearch in an area such as healthcare; the orientation of health-relatedresearch; and the levels of participation in international nanotechnology policydialogue.
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Contact Details
DonaldC. Maclurcan
Institute for Nanoscale Technology, University of Technology, Sydney
PO Box 123, Broadway
Sydney, 2006
Australia
E-mail: Donald.C.Maclurcan@uts.edu.au
