10-04 :: April 2010

nanotimes

News in Brief

3-D shapes covered in solar cells could produce more power than flat panels, MIT researchers find. Using a computer program that allows shapes to evolve over time, Jeffrey Grossman and studen- ts tested many thousands of shapes to see which would be most efficient at generating electricity. This sequence shows the evolution of one of the more effective theoretical shapes for a solar panel – although, in practice, a much simpler version would be used.

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converts carbon nanotubes into water and carbon dioxide can be of significance to medicine. Their discoveries contradict what was previously believed, that carbon nanotubes are not broken down in the body or in nature.

“Previous studies have shown that carbon nano- tubes could be used for introducing drugs or other substances into human cells,” says Bengt Fadeel, associate professor at the Swedish medical univer- sity Karolinska Institutet. “The problem has been not knowing how to control the breakdown of the nanotubes, which can caused unwanted toxicity and tissue damage. Our study now shows how they can be broken down biologically into harmless com- ponents.”

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2010/slideshow-origa- mi-0408.html

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid383240 44001?bctid=76643502001

This current study thus represents a breakthrough

in nanotechnology and nanotoxicology, since it

clearly shows that endogenous MPO can break down carbon nanotubes. The study was led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, the

University of Pittsburgh and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH),

USA.

A team of Swedish and American scientists has shown for the first time that carbon nanotubes can

be broken down by an enzyme – myeloperoxidase

(MPO) – found in white blood cells. The scientists hope that this new understanding of how MPO

Valerian E. Kagan, Nagarjun V. Konduru, Weihong Feng, Brett L. Allen, Jennifer Conroy, Yuri Volkov, Irina I. Vlaso- va, Natalia A. Belikova, Naveena Yanamala, Alexander Ka- pralov, Yulia Y. Tyurina, Jingwen Shi, Elena R. Kisin, Ashley R. Murray, Jonathan Franks, Donna Stolz, Pingping Gou, Judith Klein-Seetharaman, Bengt Fadeel, Alexander Star, Anna Shvedova: Carbon nanotubes degraded by neutrophil myeloperoxidase induce less pulmonary inflammation, In: Nature Nanotechnology, April 04, 2010, DOI:10.1038/NN- ANO.2010.44:

http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/NNANO.2010.44