Little ideas, big impact

The role of nanotechnology in the University of MissouriÕs economic development mission is taking giant steps.
During the second half of October, MU:

• Dedicated the $10 million International Institute for Nano and Molecular Medicine, employing 25 researchers initially
• Hosted the Nanotechnology Enterprise Consortium, which is working to commercialize research
• Announced that MU research this year in Columbia reached record levels, thanks in a large part to science combined with nanotechnology.

The core of much of this new research is bathed in the baby blue water of the MU Research Reactor.
It’s a manufacturing plant of sorts, and the products are neutrons created by  nuclear fission. The reactor has just been retrofitted to allow neutrons to be beamed into a portal that will be used for experiments using Boron Neutron Capture Therapy, which essentially blows up cancer cells.

The beam port, which took just 18 months to develop, is expected to be used for experiments on laboratory mice beginning in January.

MU Nanotech institute dedicated

Fred Hawthorne can look out his window in the University of Missouri’s new International Institute of Nano and Molecular Medicine and see the recently expanded MU Research Reactor. If he walks to the opposite side of the building, he can also see MU’s Life Science Business Incubator, which will open in a few months.

What Columbia’s economic development promoters are hoping for is that the research and product development taking place at the complex off South Providence Road in the labs of partnering researchers at MU will lead to the creation of local companies that provide high-paying jobs.

On Oct. 20, MU officials dedicated the $10 million research building. The institute, known as I2NM2, is dedicated to the discovery and application of basic and translational medical science based on previously unexplored chemistry combined with nanotechnology and bioscience.

The I2NM2 is staffed with four faculty members in chemistry and radiation biology. A research team of approximately 25 researchers is employed currently, and an additional 15 to 20 researchers are expected to join over the next two years.

During the dedication of the I2NM2, UM System President Gary Forsee said the research could lead to “a new generation of medical products.”

Hawthorne, the institute’s director, has been working on Boron Neutron Capture Therapy for more than 30 years. (Next year, he will receive the Priestly Medal, the highest honor given by the national organization of chemists.) He said BNCT may one day be the key to treating some of the deadliest cancers humankind has known.

Hawthorne and his research team came to MU in August 2006 to work within what he considers a rare collection of biomedical and nuclear science expertise in the same location. His vision was to establish an institute that would combine his expertise in boron chemistry and biomedicine, while enhancing the collaboration in biological and nuclear sciences. By accomplishing this, he could create an institute to explore the possibility of treating diseases, such as cancer and arthritis from a new perspective, using an old scientific discovery.

“We came here to do something that has never been done before,” Hawthorne said. “The University of Missouri has three features that separate it from other universities in the country. First, it is an example of a small number of universities in the United States with a large number of science disciplines and humanities on the same campus. Second, the largest university research reactor is located at MU and is situated a ‘chip shot’ away from our laboratory. Finally, it has very strong, collegial biomedicine departments. This combination is unique. We needed a place to conduct our research, but we needed the right place to do it.”

The I2NM2 research team is engaged in multifaceted research projects involving the creation of novel materials, devices and agents enhanced by nanotechnology. These discoveries have applications in medicine and other related science fields.

Current research is focused on six areas:

• Molecular nanoparticles that would assist in diagnostic or therapeutic interventions of cancer.
• Demonstrated use of BNCT in cancer, arthritis and radiation-mediated surgery.
• Development of nano-sized molecular “motors” with biomedical applications.
• Design of new, high-energy materials for energy storage.
• Development of advanced hydrogen storage.

The dedication of the institute took place at the beginning of a three-day international symposium featuring the discovery of new chemistry and its interface with biology, nanoscience and translational medicine. Sixteen internationally known scientists including a Nobel Laureate, members of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, fellows of the British Royal Society, and a NASA astronaut participated in the symposium.
The MU News Bureau contributed to this story