Biological Effects
Research by Yusei Miyamoto at University of Tokyo, Japan, resulted in the use of platinum nanoparticles of the size 2-3 nm to increase the lifespan of the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans.
Nanoparticles may present possible safety issues both medically and environmentally. Most of these issues usually arise due to the high surface to volume ratio, which can make the particles of some metals very reactive or catalytic. In particular, inhaled nanoparticles can pose health risks, and may cause inflammation and disease in the lung. They are able to pass through cell membranes in organisms and their interactions with biological systems are relatively unknown.
Read more about this topic: Platinum Nanoparticles
Famous quotes containing the words biological and/or effects:
“If the most significant characteristic of man is the complex of biological needs he shares with all members of his species, then the best lives for the writer to observe are those in which the role of natural necessity is clearest, namely, the lives of the very poor.”
—W.H. (Wystan Hugh)
“Upon the whole, necessity is something, that exists in the mind, not in objects; nor is it possible for us ever to form the most distant idea of it, considerd as a quality in bodies. Either we have no idea of necessity, or necessity is nothing but that determination of thought to pass from cause to effects and effects to causes, according to their experiencd union.”
—David Hume (17111776)