Nanotech: Not so nano anymore

The next time you buy a shirt or trouser that claims to be stain- and wrinkle-free, thank nanotechnology for it. This is not all. Some of the scratch-free paints, sunglasses offering better UV protection and skin-care products in the market today use nanotechnology.

The Indian government has allocated Rs 1,500 crore for the development of nanotechnology which involves studying and working with matter on an ultra-small scale.

One nanometre is one-millionth of a millimetre and a single human hair is around 80,000 nanometres in width. While Rs 500 crore has been spent for this cause, the remaining Rs 1,000 crore is available for support.

The nanotech market globally is expected to cross $1 trillion by 2010. In India, the maximum research in nanotechnology is taking place in the biotechnology and medicine segments.

For instance, Virtuous Innovation, a group company of Khandelwal Laboratories, has already developed a patented technology on Gene Repair Therapy (GRT) to stimulate dormant genes in an attempt to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS.

The company will soon launch a nano silver gel, developed from nano particles of silver to cure burns at 10 per cent of the cost of existing topical pharmaceutical creams to cure burns. The product is undergoing clinical trials.

"We have invested over Rs 150 crore in four companies in the last five years to develop nanotech drugs, related technologies and other products," said Dr Vinayak Kumar Tripathi, chief executive officer of Virtuous Innovation.

Tripathi said his scientists have patented 23 innovations in the US, out of a total of 100-odd innovations in nanotechnology, patented by Indian companies and institutes.

India's innovations using nanotechnology got a fillip last year with the commercialisation of Nanoxel by Dabur "� an injectible vial for dispensing the cancer drug paclitaxel, in India and abroad.

Biotech companies like Bharat Biotech is developing a novel topical oestrogen hormone replacement therapy and the Delhi-based Panacea Biotech is working on novel drug delivery research using mucoadhesive nanoparticles. That's not all.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed diagnostics tools for TB and typhoid, using nanotechnology.

While India's premier public sector drug research institute, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) in Mohali too is developing nanotechnology toxicity guidelines and a laboratory where the toxicity of newly-developed drugs can be tested, said sources.

More investment in research will speed up the progress of nanotechnology. The Department of Information and Technology (DIT) launched 'The Nanotechnology Development Programme' under which eight small and medium R&D projects and two major projects "� namely, Nanoelectronics Centres, a joint project of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore and Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IITB), and Generic Development of Nanometrology for Nanotechnology at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), New Delhi "� have been initiated.

Between IITB and IISc, around Rs 100 crore has been spent to set up the infrastructure and machinery. Another Rs 25 crore was allocated to both the centres, which will allow students from other universities and research units to use the facility for nano research. Private firms too can also use these facilities for research work for which they will be charged on an hourly basis.

Applied Materials, for instance, opened a Nanomanufacturing Lab at IIT Bombay. The company contributed equipment worth $7.5 million (around Rs 30 crore). Some of the other firms that are using these facilities are Intel, IBM, GE, TCS among others. So far about $500,000 (around Rs 2 crore) has been invested in such activities.

The results of these investments are now showing with the launch of products in the commercial market. V Ramagopal Rao, Professor, Electrical Engineering Department, IITB says, "With the funding support from the government as well as an equal interest from global firms, the research in nanotechnology has increased. The number of papers published from India has also gone up considerably."

He added that despite the long gestation period for a product to be commercially viable, the government is bullish about this as the cost in the later stages comes down considerably.

Prof Rao, along with his colleagues at IITB, has developed a cardiac diagnosis product "� iSens and Silicon locket "� using nanotechnology that will provide the exact reading of an individual's heart.

"India will have 60 per cent of the world's cardiac patients in a few years' time. We have been working on this project for the last two-and-a-half-years and in the next few months, the prototype will be available in the market. This product will give an accurate picture of one's heart condition."

iSens, a bio-chip, allows early detection of heart attack and has been developed with an initial investment of Rs 2.7 crore. The project is proposed to get a second round of funding under the National Programme of Smart Structure for Rs 3-4 crore.

Work on the Silicon Locket, that is already being used in many of the hospitals, was done with the help of IT major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) for an investment of Rs 1 crore.