Nanoparticulate Pathology

摘要

Carbon is a basic building block of life and is the major component of many compounds commonly used in our society, including carbon black and graphite. Surprisingly, new forms of carbon were discovered in the 1980s and 1990s. The carbon molecules were connected by single and double bonds and arranged into hexagonal and pentagonal rings which formed the convex three dimensional structures known as buckminsterfullerene (buckyballs) and carbon nanotubes. The discovery of fullerenes led to the 1996 Nobel Prize in chemistry and played a major role in enabling three dimensional engineering at a molecular level. The resulting new field is nanotechnology, the technology used to synthesize particulates with at least one dimension less than 100 nm. Nanotechnology is currently a multi-billion dollar industry with growth potential, Some of the promising new nanotechnology products include pharmaceuticals and medical devices engineered, or containing components which are engineered, in nanoscale dimensions, sothat they may deliver improved therapies to patients. Assuring these improved therapies do not convey undo risks to patients clearly involves understanding the potential hazards of engineered nanoparticulates (NPs). In addition, the products of nanotechnology have the potential to expose the workers who produce them, researchers who study them, and the general public to newly designed structures that will often be unseen by the unaided eye. For toxicologic pathologists, nanotechnology also presents newchallenges and amazing opportunities.