The MRC responds to nanotechnology review
28 March 2007
The science minister Malcolm Wicks has welcomed the pro-active approach of the Medical Research Council in seeking to promote research in nanotoxicology. The minister was responding on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme to a report from the Council for Science and Technology (CST) Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies: Review of Government’s Progress on its Policy Commitments.
Although the report commended the progress made by the UK in driving forward the international agenda and improving nanometrology – the science of measuring and charactersing nanoparticles, the CST was critical of the lack of investment it perceived in nanotoxicology research. Nanotoxicology comprises both the investigation of the properties of nanoparticles and how they react in the human body, and the assessment of the immediate risks nanoparticles might pose to human tissues and health.
The Medical Research Council has recently issued a nanotoxicology policy highlight notice to demonstrate the strategic significance of this area of research and encourage scientists to apply for grants to explore the behaviour of nanoparticles in the human body. Through the Environment and Human Health programme led by the Natural Environment Research Council, the MRC has also contributed to eight new exploratory projects relevant to nanoscience. They cover a range of research including the hazards of nanoparticles to health and the environment and the impacts of inhaling nanoparticles in the atmosphere.
The MRC is concerned that the development of this new technology should take place in safe and controlled circumstances. Exploratory aspects of nanotoxicology pose exciting questions that scientists are keen to address and offer the prospects of innovative research to inform policy development.
Notes
The MRC policy highlight notice for nanotechnology
The Environment and Human Health Programme is a joint three-year interdisciplinary, capacity building programme supported by NERC, Defra, the Environment Agency, the Ministry of Defence, the Medical Research Council, the Economic and Social Research Council, The Wellcome Trust, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Health Protection Agency.
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